Cape Bathurst
- Herd size (2021) 4,913
This is one of three herds once simply known as the “Bluenose Herd”. In the mid 1990s, research showed that the Bluenose Herd was split into three herds all using different calving grounds, so the management units of Bluenose-East, Bluenose-West, and Cape Bathurst herds were created. There is no management board for this herd, but there is a management plan covering all three herds. The Cape Bathurst herd was estimated at about 19,000 animals in the early 1990s. The 2018 estimate put the number at 4,500. A 2021 count shows a slight increase to 4,913.
The Cape Bathurst herd range is entirely in the northwest Territories, ranging from the eastern side of the Mackenzie Delta to the Cape Bathurst on the Arctic coast that gives the herd its name. The NWT community of Tuktoyaktuk is within the herd’s range, and Inuvik is nearby. The herd was harvested by four communities; Aklavik, Inuvik, Tsiigehtchic and Tuktoyaktuk. All harvest of the Cape Bathurst herd has been suspended since 2007. The herd’s calving grounds on the Cape Bathurst Peninsula are protected through the Community Conservation Plans and provisions in the Inuvialuit Final Agreement. The area is also recognized as a Critical Wildlife Area between May 15 and June 15.
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