Dez Loreen
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 19/05) - A government study shows dramatic declines in two of three Northwest Territories caribou herds, but hunters and outfitters are challenging the findings.

"Their tracking methods aren't accurate. Those numbers are misleading," said Yellowknife outfitter Boyd Warner.

Last spring, field biologists placed collars on a small group of female caribou from the Cape Bathurst herd, the Bluenose West herd located north of Colville Lake, and the Bluenose East herd from the Great Bear Lake area.

The survey found the population of the Bluenose West herd dropped by 80,000 to 20,800 animals and the Bluenose East herd fell by 38,000 to 66,600 caribou. The Cape Bathurst herd fell by 15,000 animals to 2,400.

Ray Case, manager of technical support for the Environment and Natural Resources department, said the decline is normal.

"The caribou herds have been low like this before. It happens in cycles, about 30 to 40 years apart," said Case.

Environment minister Michael Miltenberger said the government is working with management boards to develop action plans "to ensure the herds stay healthy and viable to meet the needs of harvesters."

Determine changes

Case said "the government is not proposing changes in quotas for caribou hunting.

"The results from the co-management meetings will determine the changes, if any," he said.

Warner doesn't think the numbers are accurate. He believes that caribou numbers are at an all-time high, and blames the government for attempting to stir up a controversy between aboriginal hunters and non-aboriginals.

Split herds

"All the government did was take the one herd (Bathurst) and split it into three separate groups. I don't know what their agenda is," said Warner.

Tuktoyaktuk outfitter James Pokiak said the Cape Bathurst herd in the Anderson River region - hunted mostly by aboriginals from the delta - has not been declining.

"I was out on the land last week, and saw large numbers of caribou in the Anderson River area," said Pokiak, who missed a meeting that discussed caribou numbers in his area. "I couldn't be at the meeting because I was on the land, hunting caribou," said Pokiak.