a ski hill."

"lf we call the deben

— Shames Mountain, page A2

ture, we end up with

lative

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|

~ Weekes 1x4

Ken White (left) and Jason Kinney of Terrace did the best they could for this moose calf that they think was

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14 B,C.

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abandoned by its mother. Conservation officer Peter Kalina says, however, that his office takes a dim view of
unauthorized wildlife rescues.

Moose calf rescued -

by Tod Strachan

If you see a young moose that
appears to be abandoned... leave it
alone. That's the advice of Terrace
conservation officer Peter Kalina.
But for Terrace residents Ken
White and Jason Kinney who were
faced with the decision last week-
end, it wasn’t quite that simple.

White and Kinney spotied a
young moose just north of Ross-
wood early Saturday morning and
passed it by, The next morning,
though, it was still in the same
spot and still alone. It appeared to
be abandoned... perhaps the mother
was injured or dead.

Having decided the calf’s life
was in danger the duo decided to

investigate. There was no evidence
the mother was nearby and this led
to the next step... a rescue attempt.
This proved to be relatively easy
~— they simply picked the calf up,
put it in the back of their pickup,
and headed for home. This was
followed by a quick phone call to
the local conservation office and
their job was done,

This story has a happy ending, it
would seem. Kalina says the calf
flew first class on a Canadian
Airlines flight that same evening
and is now a registered guest at
the Vancouver Game Farm in
Surrey. But Kalina is not happy.
He says his office takes a dim
view of this type of rescue and, in
fact, anyone attempting to rescue a

wild animal can be charged under
the Wildlife Act.

In the case of a moose calf,
explains Kalina, the cow is nor-
mally nearby keeping a watchful
eye on the intruders. But people
rarely see the well-camouflaged
mother: In the bush. Also, accord-
ing to Kalina, it’s not uncommon
for the cow to go off on its own
for eight to 10 hours to feed before
retuming to its young. The calf
appears to be abandoned, but in
reality mother is nearby.

Kalina says there are occasions
when something happens to the
mother, but even then it is normal
practice to leave the calf alone. A
young moose is very difficult to
care for and its chance of survival

or kidnapped?

alone in the bush is about the same
as in captivity... low.

Given the odds of survival and
the cost of rescue, he says, the
animal is probably best teft alone.
Kalina says that a moose calf in
caplivity requires about five
months of care before it can surv-

ive, but even before that, arranging

the transportation can present
problems.

There are cases, though, when
the rescue of an animal is deemed
beneficial. Kalina says that if the
mother is "confirmed" to be dead,
or a young animal has treatable
injuries, an attempt will be made
to save it’s life. He adds, however,
that this is a decision that must be
made by the proper authorities.

DNESDAY, MAY 30, 1990
-:.'6, Issue No, 22 |

SOC

Phone 635-7840
Fax 635-7269

Joe Phillips of J. Phillips Con-
tracting Ltd. will appear before
Terrace council at 7:30 p.m. June
12 to explain why the city should
not revoke his business licence.
Phillips’ problems are related to
the Copperside III construction
site, where he poured concrete
footings without appropriate appro-
val or inspections.

According to city director of
permits and licences, Bob Lafleur,
a "Stop Work Order" was posted
at the Kalum St. Copperside Foods
construction site on April 23
because: Phillips poured the con-
crete footings without approved
plans, without obtaining the neces- .
sary butiding -pernrit, and without
calling for required city inspect-
ions. |

There followed a meeting
between Lafleur, Phillips, property
owner Bob Lavoie, project man-
ager C. Cormier and architect
Allan Soutar, after which the pro-
ject was allowed to proceed. On
May 14, however, it was discov-
ered that Phillips poured a “large
section of foundation wall" without
calling for inspection, and Lafleur
suspended Phillips’s license pend-
ing a hearing before council.

The license suspension was
dropped following another meeting
in order to allow the Copperside
project to praceed, says license and
building inspector Paul Gipps. The
problem now, however, is trying to
determine exactly what is inside
the concrete poured by Phillips.
Gipps says his department won’t
pass something they can’t see, and
even though the concrete is prob-
ably up 1o standard they have no
way of knowing how much rebar
or wood might be in the concrete.
Gipps says the property owner,
Bob Lavoie, will now be respon-
sible for having the quality of the
concrete certified by a professional
engineer before construction of the
building can begin.

"This project is not an isolated
incident," Lafleur writes in a
memo to council. "On March 20,
1990, Mr. Phillips was repriman-

ded for not calling for required
inspections and warned that his

— Continued on page A2

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