- Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary
The Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary, at 26,000 square miles (67,000 km²), is the largest
wildlife refuge in Canada. [ [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-27356095_ITM "Snow man: John Hornby in the barren lands."] , "Arctic",March 1 ,2000 . AccessedJanuary 21 ,2008 . "It was Hornby who planted the seed that grew into what is today Canada's oldest and largest fully protected pocket of wilderness, the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary."] It is located innorthern Canada 'sArctic region, north of thetree line , straddling theNorthwest Territories andNunavut , halfway between Baker Lake andYellowknife . It is the namesake of theThelon River , whose river valley is resplendent with boreal forest biological diversity, hence its identification as a "Biological Site of Universal Importance" by theInternational Biological Program (IBP) in the 1960s. [cite web |url=http://www.thelon.com/sanctuary.htm |title=The Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary, Northwest Territories & Nunavut, Canada, Canada's Wilderness Jewel |publisher=thelon.com |accessdate=2008-01-16]Established in 1927 as the Thelon Game Sanctuary to conserve
muskox populations, its original size was convert|39000|km2|sqmi|lk=on. It was expanded in 1956 to its present size of convert|56000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on, and is home to the most northernly knownmoose above the tree line. In addition, the wildlife sanctuary is home toBarren-ground Caribouu (Beverly and Bathurst herds),Arctic Wolf ,Arctic Fox ,wolverine , Arctic squirrel ("sicsic"), barren ground grizzly bear andwaterfowl .cite web |url=http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:9ktjQuTc-AYJ:www.thelon.com/pdf/UpperThelonRiver.pdf+%22thelon+oasis%22+plants&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us |title=The Upper Thelon River |publisher=thelon.com |accessdate=2008-01-17]The "Thelon Oasis" is a section of the wildlife sanctuary along the Thelon River valley between Warden Grove (the Thelon's confluence with
Hanbury River ) and Hornby Point. Even though it is north of the Arctic tree line, the area supports thick white spruce tree groves,raspberry , currant, and columbine plants, along with tall alluvial dwarf willow thickets and tag alder. Scientists believe the causes of this unusual proliferation of plants more common tosubarctic areas include favorable fine-textured soils and climatic oasis effect, higher summer temperatures due to northward elevation fall and the absence of large lakes.(Timoney, 1995)The wildlife sanctuary is also the ancestral home of Akilinirmiut,
Inuit of the Akiliniq, a hilly area by the shores of Beverly Lake ("Tipjalik"). While there are many lakes within the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary, Beverly Lake is notable as the widening of the Thelon River at its northeastern border within the wildlife sanctuary, and the end of the spruce tree groves.cite web |url=http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/news21_2/arctic.htm |title=Insect biodiversity in the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary |publisher=ualberta.ca |accessdate=2008-01-17] The wildlife sanctuary teems with game but is a hunting free zone, with support from the Inuit of Baker Lake. [cite web |url=http://64.26.129.36/on_the_land/thelon_wildlife_about.cfm |title=On the land |publisher=thelon_wildlife_about.cfm |accessdate=2008-01-16]References
* Timoney, K. 1995. [http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:TtspOq_ZxM0J:pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic48-1-13.pdf+%22thelon+oasis%22+plants&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us "Tree and Tundra Cover Anomalies in the Subarctic Forest-Tundra of Northwestern Canada"] . "Arctic". 48, no. 1: 13.
Videography
* LaRose, John. "The Place Where God Began The Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary, a Northern Oasis". [Ottawa, Ont.] : Summerhill Entertainment, 2000.
External links
* [http://64.26.129.36/on_the_land/thelon_wildlife_about.cfm About the sanctuary]
* [http://www.thelon.com/thelon1.htm Map1] , [http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/news21_2/arctic.htm Map2]
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