129 

 and had about 1 h of natural light and about 1 h of artificial light from battery-powered headlamps. 

 The order of natural and artificial light necessarily was reversed for sunrise and sunset censuses, but 

 the direction of censuses was fairly consistent for each transect. 



The census team had one recorder/biololgist and one spotter (an experienced local hunter). 

 Each team member carried a headlamp. The spotter led the team and usually made the sighting. 

 Frequently the spotter also sighted the animal. Team members remained on the transect except to 

 measure or confirm a sighting. All game animals sighted by team members were counted, as were 

 some nongame animals (see Chapter 3 for additional information about game and nongame species). 



For each sighting, the critical variables were based on the locations of the spotter and the 

 animal when first noted. The following information was recorded for each sighting; species, transect 

 number, bearing (measured with a compass and usually rounded-off to ± 2°), distance from spotter 

 (measured to within 0.1m with a tape measure), and forest successional stage (see Appendix 1 for data 

 form). Sightings were conservative in that either the animal was directly observed or the animal's 

 presence was confirmed by locating a fresh track, feeding sign, hair or feather, or hearing a 

 characteristic alarm call as it fled the area. Only the first observation of an animal during a census was 

 counted as a sighting. This problem was avoided by noting the direction and distance an animal fled 

 and ignoring potential repeated sightings. 



Outings were undertaken at a frequency of one or two times per transect per month and were 

 conditional upon good weather, the phase of the moon, the availability of spotters, and the recent 

 occurrence of logging activities in the vicinity of the transect. This was done to maximize the 

 probability of seeing wildlife. Censuses were not conducted during periods of bright moonlight, heavy 

 rains, strong winds, or if loggers had been in the vicinity of the transect within a few days of the 

 planned census. The order in which transects were walked was random within each series of sunrise or 

 sunset censuses. 



