Researchers, hunters study how oilsands noise might impact moose hunting

Jesmeen Gill · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 03, 2025 8:00 AM EST | Last Updated: November 3

Hunters successful bluish Alberta are helping scientists trial however concern sound from the oilsands affects moose hunting — a nutrient root and a transportation to taste traditions for galore agrarian and Indigenous communities.

As wood landscapes are cleared for operations, moose habitats go much open, making animals easier to spot, but besides exposing them to much predators.

For longtime huntsman and moose caller Kevin Adby, concern improvement has altered his mode of hunting successful and astir Conklin, astir 155 kilometres southbound of Fort McMurray.

“You tin spot moose for miles now, whereas earlier you didn’t spot nothing, you had to spell by a way and antithetic strategies,” helium said.

In a caller mandate missive from Premier Danielle Smith to Energy Minister Brian Jean, the state is aiming for higher lipid production.

But this has immoderate assemblage members raising concerns astir however concern sound is affecting accepted hunting practices.

That question led to the Moose Calling Pilot Project, a collaboration betwixt the Conklin Resource Development Advisory Committee, the University of Alberta and the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute. 

The survey aims to trial whether sound from oilsands operations affects hunters’ quality to telephone and observe moose.

“But moose, due to the fact that they’re truthful large and person specified agelong legs, they’re capable to determination done the scenery a batch easier,” explained Peter Fortna, a societal idiosyncratic progressive successful the project. 

“As the scenery becomes much fragmented, it’s harder for them due to the fact that much predators are capable to travel and beryllium connected the landscape.”

Fortna said assemblage interviews revealed that concern sound and scenery changes are believed to beryllium impacting however radical hunt and however palmy they are astatine calling moose.

A connection from the property caput for the ministry of situation says they are not alert of immoderate important increases successful sound from the oilsands. 

“As a portion of its ongoing research, the Oil Sands Monitoring Program and Indigenous partners volition beryllium exploring the effects of dependable connected moose and different wildlife successful the area. We volition support Albertans updated connected the results of this work,” the connection said.

The experiment

The survey is being conducted astatine 2 sites — 1 quiescent and 1 adjacent concern enactment — to measurement however dependable travels successful antithetic environments.

Researchers placed 5 autonomous signaling units successful a consecutive line, spaced 80 metres apart, with a 5th positioned 200 metres farther to seizure long-distance sound.

Hunters execute accepted moose calls astatine points betwixt the recorders, gradually moving distant from the sound source.

At the noisy site, existing concern sounds enactment arsenic the treatment. In the quiescent site, researchers usage speakers to play recorded sound from oilsands facilities to simulate akin conditions.

The information volition amusement however acold moose calls tin beryllium detected successful each setting, and however sound affects some the call’s scope and hunters’ quality to perceive a moose’s response.

Alberto De Rosa is simply a postdoctoral chap successful the University of Alberta’s bioacoustics unit. (Jesmeen Gill/CBC)

“I’m precise blessed to beryllium capable to enactment with section communities,” said Alberto De Rosa, a postdoctoral chap successful the University of Alberta’s bioacoustics unit. 

“Where I’m from, it’s precise uncommon that scientists and communities really connect. I consciousness similar we person an existent connection, communication, wherever they are the experts successful their portion and we are the experts successful our portion and bringing these 2 expertises unneurotic benignant of makes this possible.”

The task is funded done Alberta’s Oil Sands Monitoring Program nether its community-based monitoring stream. Results are expected successful astir a month, erstwhile information postulation and investigation are complete.

Community members told Fortna that hunting astir Conklin has go progressively hard owed to much predators and ongoing situation fragmentation. 

Meanwhile, caller roads person opened up distant areas to much hunters from extracurricular the community, reducing wildlife numbers and disrupting accepted hunting areas.

“It means to beryllium that the manufacture does much harm than they said they would, much trees, much deforestation,” said Adby. 

“Before it was conscionable selected radical successful a trapline, but present it’s anybody and everybody… you’re losing much animals than you’re expected to.”