NARRATOR: Beavers,
moose, and moths
don't seem to share
too much in common,
but when these tree-eating
animals come together
it's triple trouble
for one of Canada's oldest
National Parks.
On the jagged coast
of Canada's Eastern shore.
A delicate and
diverse ecosystem
thrives on the fringes
of the continent.
Welcome
Welcome
to the Wild Wild East.
The Cape Breton's
Highlands
is a vast and rugged
landscape,
Acadian forest
bursting with Canada's
trademark colorful leaves.
An ancient plateau,
blanketed by
a boreal woodland,
And surrounding it all,
the rough Atlantic Ocean.
This primeval forest
is the home
of over 1000
different animal species.
But now in spite of
conservationist's best efforts,
the great north woods
may disappear altogether.
In the 17th century,
Europe's great explorers
began crossing
the Atlantic
in search of wealth
and resources.
They found beavers,
moose and moths,
and all the creatures
of the great north world.
The forests and oceans
of North America
were a vast
new source
for fish, fur
and wood.
During
the industrial age,
demand for timber
to build ships,
houses and railroads
intensified.
Deforestation spread
across Cape Breton
and endangered
the animals
that called
the Highlands home.
Today only 5% of
Cape Breton's forests remain.
Saw away
long enough,
and the ecosystem
goes timber.
The majestic moose is Canada's
biggest four-legged celebrity.
Size, strength,
and perseverance
make the moose
synonymous
with life in the harsh climate
of the true north.
Before the Europeans
arrived,
Moose roamed freely
across Cape Breton Island.
The exact number
is unknown,
but historic records
show that in the late-1700s
over 6,000 moose were hunted
annually in Cape Breton.
They weren't just killed
for their meat and fur.
moose fat
was a hot commodity,
used to make candles
and lubricate steam engines.
But it was the moose's
white-tailed cousin
that dealt
the final blow.
Introduced to Cape Breton
in the 1880s,
the clear-cutting
of the industrial age
opened up new pastures
for the deer to forage in.
As they spread
across the island
they brought
a nervous system parasite,
harmless to the deer,
but fatal to the moose.
Finally, in the 1920s,
hunting, habitat loss
and disease
took their deadly toll,
And the moose
disappeared completely
from Cape Breton Island.
The ecosystem was
transformed.
Trees lost
to loggers,
species gone extinct
from Cape Breton Island,
At the beginning of
the 20th century,
the fate of the forest
looked bleak.
But then, in 1930,
a glimmer of hope,
The Canadian government
passed the National Parks Act.
This legislation
protected large pockets
of Canada's wilderness
from clear-cutting.
And in 1936,
the Cape Breton Highlands
National Park was established,
preserving this important
animal habitat.
This protected area
is 20 times
the size of Manhattan,
with 1.5 million
fewer people
and more than
100 million more trees.
With their natural
habitat safe,
the Park officials
re-introduced the moose
back to
the boreal forest.
In the 1940s,
18 moose from Alberta
were trucked
across Canada.
Soon a cow moose grazing
for food with her calves
became a familiar sight
once again.
Normally, moose are
solitary animals,
but mother and child
share a special bond,
and are never
far apart.
She stays with her calves
through their first winter.
Her instinct
is to defend them
until they're large enough
to protect themselves.
Mom uses her excellent
sense of smell
to detect danger,
but there are
no airborne alarms here.
In Cape Breton, moose have
no natural predators.
At one time, packs of wolves
roamed the boreal forest,
preying on
calves and adults,
but in
the late-1800s,
the wolf also
fell victim to hunters
and the almighty saw.
Without any predators,
these calves could live
for 20 years.
At home
in the protected Park
and safe from
their natural enemies,
the moose's reintroduction
in the 1940s
got started
on the right hoof.
Weaving between
the forest's hills,
and its valleys,
are rivers.
They flow down
the Highlands plateau,
and bring water,
the source of all life,
to the creatures
of the Highlands.
The rivers here are home
to the iconic beaver,
the national animal
of Canada,
and role model for
work-a-holics around the world.
Beavers build dams across
sections of the river,
which flood large
parts of the forest
creating
beaver ponds.
The dams have major impacts
on their environments.
The largest on record
is in Buffalo
National Park in Alberta,
discovered
by a space satellite,
it's twice the length
of the man-made Hoover Dam.
The beaver is the largest rodent
in North America,
and can grow as big
as a medium-sized dog.
Beavers and humans
have a lot in common.
Both are warm-blooded
mammals,
and both drastically
alter their environment
to suit
their own needs
and are quick to protect
their turf.
A beaver is
generally docile,
but threaten
its kingdom,
and the beaver will attack
by snarling, biting
and scratching with
its powerful front legs.
Its front legs have
nimble paws and sharp nails,
which it also uses
to help build its home,
Beavers' back feet
are webbed,
making them excellent
swimmers.
They are truly
aquatic animals,
with a protective membrane
covering their eyes,
and flaps of skin to keep
water out of their ears
and nose
when underwater.
Beavers have two layers
of thick fur,
which keep them warm
as they swim underwater
during the winter.
The extraordinary quality
of the beaver's fur
drove the colonization
and economy of
North America in the 1600s.
Beavers barely survived
their brief foray into fashion.
From 1670 onward,
the Hudson's Bay Company
loaded two or three
ships a year
with beaver pelts
bound for England.
In one year alone,
over 130,000 beavers
were killed
for the fur trade.
Beavers mostly eat
leaves, buds
and inner bark of
young, woody plants
that grow along
their waterways.
But they'll also eat
water lilies
and other
aquatic vegetation.
Beavers don't
actually eat trees,
though their tireless
dam maintenance
could give
another impression.
The beaver's work ethic
is motivated
by an unusual
adaptation.
Their teeth
never stop growing.
Chewing keeps them
short and sharp.
A beaver's most iconic,
and useful feature, is its tail.
Covered in scales
and sparse hair,
it serves many
purposes.
In the water,
the tail primarily
acts as a rudder.
But it has another
important function,
Coyotes, bears,
mountain lions and wolves
are the beaver's
main predators.
But the beaver
is only vulnerable
when it ventures
onto land.
Safe in the water,
he sounds an alarm bell
to alert the rest
of the beaver family.
Danger lurks
nearby.
The coyote's cover
has been blown,
so it's off to stalk
its next prey.
This tail slapping
can also serve as a warning
for beavers from other
colonies to stay clear.
This pond is taken.
Biologists refer to beavers
as ecosystem engineers
because the wetlands
they construct, create a habitat
for amphibians
and other residents
of the Highlands.
And the beavers'
wetlands
are a favorite
foraging ground
for hungry moose,
who eat water-lilies and
other aquatic plants.
They have adaptations to find
food anywhere in their range,
even underwater.
Moose have a special valve
that blocks the entrance
to their nostrils,
allowing them to submerge
their mouths fully
and pick-out
the foliage underneath.
Out of the water,
a moose can strip bare
any part of a tree
it can reach.
They have no
upper front teeth.
They have
eight sharp incisors
on their lower jaw,
and a dozen
pairs of molars
that they use
to chomp up the trees,
the twigs, bark, pine cones
and also shrubs.
Unlike deer,
cows and horses,
these grazers
don't eat grass.
To survive,
moose need the forest
and the wetlands.
In the decades following
their re-introduction,
the moose population
began to grow,
and their range began to spread
beyond the Park itself.
It looked like
the forest was ready
to turn
over a new leaf.
But then,
a new threat emerged
from another
voracious herbivore.
This one is smaller
than your pinky-finger.
The spruce budworm.
Every summer
adult moths lay eggs
on spruce
and balsam fir,
two of the most common trees
in the Highlands.
The larvae spend the winter
in their cocoons,
and when they emerge
in the spring,
they're hungry.
The newly born
caterpillars
feed off the tree's
needles to fuel
their metamorphosis
into a moth.
During outbreaks,
there could be
over 200 hungry
spruce budworms
feeding on one branch.
Normally, their population
is kept low
by weather conditions,
parasites
and predators
like spiders and birds.
But it's
a delicate balance,
and sometimes
it goes off kilter.
That's exactly what
happened in the 1970s
when the spruce budworm
destroyed a section
of the Nova Scotian
forest
half the size
of the State of Vermont.
The worst hit area was right
here in the Highlands.
Spruce budworm outbreaks
are cyclical.
Ecologists believe they occur
every 30 to 40 years.
The forest should
have recovered by now,
but the burgeoning
moose population
feasted on
the young trees,
which slowed the forest's
re-generation.
The landscape
of the Highlands
was an all-you-can-eat
buffet of saplings
for the moose.
In turn, their population
exploded.
Since their re-introduction
between 1947 and '48,
the number of moose
inside the Park
has grown
from 18 to 1800.
Compared to
other areas,
there's now four times
the number of moose
in the Highlands,
and no wolves to reduce
the population numbers.
Moose are voracious
herbivores.
In total, all the moose
in the Highlands
eat four and a half
dump trucks worth
of vegetation
every day.
And now the forest
is transforming once again.
Fall is the most active
harvesting season for beavers.
With winter
on its way,
they work overtime
to fix up dams and lodges
before their pond
freezes.
A recent rainfall
has compromised
the beaver's
territory,
and the dam
has struck a leak.
If it's not patched,
the beaver's pond will drain.
This will expose
the lodge,
and it will no longer
protect the beaver
and its family from
terrestrial predators.
Rushing water is the beaver's
alarm bell,
the sound triggers
their instinct to build.
An experiment where
a recording of rushing water
was played on dry land
resulted in the beaver
covering a stereo
with sticks and mud
in an attempt to silence
the disturbance.
The coming winter means
more trees are needed
to secure
the beaver's lodge.
Mud dredged up from
the bottom of the river
is used to hold
the branches in place
and acts
as a sealant,
keeping the lodge
water-tight.
The beavers may be the hardest
workers in the Wild Wild East,
but their non-stop
construction
is also reducing
the survival
of the trees and saplings
surrounding their ponds.
As beavers transform
rivers into wetlands,
they flood the forest,
Meaning beavers
don't just chop down trees,
they suffocate them too.
But when the beavers leave,
and the pond drains,
a fertile meadow
remains in its place.
Here young trees bloom,
but before they can mature,
they're eaten
by moose.
As the moose population
becomes more concentrated,
a new danger
has hit the Highlands.
Since an adult moose
weighs about as much
as a small car,
collisions can be fatal,
for man and beast.
But the overpopulation
of moose
is an even greater threat
to the health of the Highlands,
and the other animal species
that call the forest home.
Most of the animals
of the Highlands
could not survive anywhere
else in Cape Breton,
they have adaptations
to live in the forests here.
Perched on
low branches,
an adult male
spruce grouse blends
perfectly
into the background.
Its plumage acts
as camouflage.
This is the grouse's
only form of protection,
and like the moose,
budworm and beaver,
it feeds off
the forest,
mostly eating needles
from fir trees,
If the great north woods
can't recover,
the spruce grouse is just
one of over a thousand species
set to lose
its home.
And so Park officials
are taking action
to restore the balance
of the Highlands.
Atop
North Mountain,
a strange structure stands
in the middle of the Park.
It's called
an exclosure.
The opposite of
an enclosure.
It's designed
to keep moose out.
The trees inside
are saplings,
which a moose would
devour in single sitting.
By fencing
the moose out,
Park officials hope
the trees inside
will grow
tall enough
to survive
the moose's appetite.
The Park currently has
two exclosures,
both built
in 2007.
The one on the Skyline Trail
is the largest,
covering an area the size of
nine football fields.
It's estimated that over
the next five years,
plant life will grow
seven times as dense
inside
the protected areas.
But the outcome
is uncertain.
It will be decades
before the effects
of the exclosures on the Park
can be measured.
And in the meantime,
the rest of forest
will continue its struggle.
With the exclosures
only covering
a small area of the Park,
their effect is contained.
In the end,
there's still too many moose
in the Cape Breton
Highlands.
Fall for the moose
is a special time of year,
mating season.
And it's called
the rut.
The scent of a female cow
draws the bull moose
from across
the Highlands.
Cows are only in heat
for one to two days a year.
After that they quickly
lose interest.
The stakes are high
for the bull.
If he doesn't manage
to find a mate
in the
next few weeks,
he'll have to wait
another year.
It's a rare
social moment,
this is the only time
the solitary animals
seek out company.
But their union means
that the moose population
is set to grow again
in the spring,
So Park officials
are exploring every option
to restore
the natural balance
of the moose population.
There's even talk
of bringing back an old nemesis,
the wolf.
But the effects of
that management strategy
still need to be
studied.
In places like
Yellowstone National Park,
wolves re-introduced
in 1995
had quadrupled
in numbers by 2004,
but numbers have
leveled off since then.
Wolf re-introduction may be
considered again in the future,
but Park officials feel they
need to take immediate action
to reign in
the number of moose
in the Cape Breton
Highlands.
In the fall
of 2015,
the Park licensed hunters
from the Mi'Kmaq First Nation
to kill 37 moose
in the area of the forest
most affected
by hyper abundance.
This cull has been
a subject of controversy,
but officials believe
it's necessary
to protect all the animals
of the Highlands.
With a new year
on its way,
the future remains uncertain
for the animals
of the Cape Breton
Highlands National Park.
It's still not known
what, if any, impact
the moose cull
will have.
And there are signs
that another
spruce budworm outbreak
may be on its way.
But there's
a glimmer of hope,
The Park's
protected status
keeps out
the clear-cutters,
And exclosures
secure a small piece
of the forest's future.
The ultimate goal
is simple,
return the forest
to its former glory
and restore this important
animal habitat.
It's a balancing act
in the Wild Wild East.
♪ THEME MUSIC ♪
