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Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology

Section Symposium

Where the Wild Things Are: One Health at the Wildlife-Arthropod Interface On-Demand Presentations

Building hunter engagement for large-scale monitoring of wildlife ectoparasites: Lessons learned from the Yukon winter tick monitoring project

On-Demand

Presenting Author(s)

Emily S. Chenery

PhD Candidate
University of Toronto
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada

Co-author(s)

MH

Maud Henaff

Department of Environment
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
KM

Kristenn Magnusson

Department of Environment
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
NH

N. Jane Harms

Department of Environment
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
NM

Nicholas E. Mandrak

University of Toronto
Scarborough, Yukon, Canada
PM

Péter K. Molnár

University of Toronto
Scarborough, Yukon, Canada

Monitoring of ectoparasites on wildlife hosts commonly involves sampling hunted animal hides, and often relies on community engagement to obtain spatially and temporally consistent samples. In Yukon, Canada, the winter tick, Dermacentor albipictus, is a blood-feeding parasite that can cause significant hair and blood loss in moose (Alces alces) and other wildlife, but whose impacts on cervid hosts are not well documented in northern Canada. Here, we present the findings of a three-year citizen science program, the Yukon Winter Tick Monitoring Project, that aimed to increase engagement of moose and caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) hunters to assist with winter tick monitoring. A combination of incentivized engagement, in-person and social media outreach, and standardized hide sampling field kits increased the number of voluntary submissions of target host hides almost 100-fold since surveillance began in 2011. In addition to increasing the geographical range of samples collected to 67^oN latitude, three previously unknown locations were revealed with winter ticks on moose in south-east Yukon. We show how simplifying sample collection processes and recognizing extrinsic motivations for participating in citizen science can lead to increased engagement of key community partners, resulting in improved outcomes for wildlife parasite surveillance over large spatial scales.