Western Queen Elizabeth

  • Herd size (2015) 7,300

Many caribou in this area winter on Prince Patrick Island and move in spring to Eglinton, Emerald, Melville and Byam Martin islands for the summer. Other caribou in the area have also been observed moving between islands. This management unit has undergone two large crashes and recoveries over the more than forty years of surveys of the population. Some forecasts suggest that the caribou in this area are likely to be the most resilient of all the Peary caribou to current and future climate change.

Related news

QIA says Nunavut land-use plan doesn’t go far enough to protect caribou

The Qikiqtani Inuit Association (the organization that holds land rights for Inuit in the Baffin region of Nunavut) is urging more prtoections for caribou in the Nunavut Land Use Plan. The land use plan is in its final hearing stage. The plan has been under development for several years and will influence the future of development in the territory. 
18 November 2022 | Nunatsiaq news

Related resources

Peary Caribou and Muskox Survey of the Melville-Prince Patrick Complex, Northwest Territories and Nunavut Summer 2012

A 21-page 2016 report on a 2012 aerial survey of Peary caribou and muskoxen on several Arctic islands shared by the NWT and Nunavut.
Government of the Northwest Territories (2016)

Usage: Non-commercial with attribution
Format: pdf

PearyWestern Queen ElizabethNatural factors