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Adapted from: Government of NWT (2018)
Caribou have long been vital to the survival of Indigenous peoples in the north; the First Nations, Inuit, and Metis.
Read moreThreats
Reasons for the drop in caribou populations are complicated. There is still some disagreement among scientific and Indigenous experts as to which factors are most important.
Management
It is often said that forms of wildlife management are mostly not about managing the animals, but about managing people. Some Indigenous peoples find it disrespectful to even talk about managing caribou. In that spirit, this section is largely about managing human interventions that affect caribou.
News and resources
Recently added resources
Evaluating the impact of caribou habitat restoration on predator and prey movement
An academic paper that looks at the impact on caribou numbers of trying to return seismic lines back to a more natural state. The research found that restoration on seismic lines in northern Alberta slowed wolved and caribou. The assumption is that if both wolves and caribou move more slowly along these sites, it will reduce the likelihood that they run across each other, and so reduce the numbers of caribou killed. The paper suggests further research to test that assumption.
(2022)
Bathurst caribou health guide
Visual assessment of caribou health is very difficult. To better understand the current health status of Bathurst caribou, Kaitlyn Dornstauder, a University of Calgary Veterinary student working in the lab of Susan Kutz, teamed up with Ekwò Naxoehdeè K’è (A Tlicho government project to monitor caribou, translated as "boots on the ground") to develop a caribou health field guide to help improve observations of caribou condition on the barren lands. This is a poster describing the project.
Kaitlyn Dornstauder (2022)