Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 28/05) - While concern has swirled around the numbers of barrenground caribou, another kind of caribou in the North has received little attention.

The boreal caribou is the lesser known and seldom mentioned cousin of the barrenground animal, but wildlife specialists are working to change this.

On Dec. 1 information pamphlets about the boreal caribou will be distributed across the Northwest Territories. Between December and April, staff from Environment and Natural Resources will be hosting community meetings about the caribou.

"We want to be very interactive with the public," said Rob Gau, a species at risk specialist with the wildlife division of Environment and Natural Resources.

The specialists are turning to the public for help to identify changes in numbers, habitat, prey, harvesting, and parasites and diseases.

"The overall goal is to help identify the steps to protect the boreal caribou," said Gau.

While barren ground caribou have been studied intensively since the mid 70s, studies on boreal caribou only started in 2001, said Gau.

The population was estimated between 4,000 and 6,400 in 2001, but determining herd numbers is difficult.

"The exact numbers are unknown," said Gau.

Part of the problem is the boreal caribou's habits. The animals live in small herds in the boreal forests between the Mackenzie Mountains and the Canadian Shield. The caribou prefer to stay in the forest most of the year and don't migrate.

"They disappear into the forest instead of running out onto frozen lakes," Gau said.

A population number was estimated by taking density samples from a few areas.

There are satellite collars on a few caribou in the Inuvialuit, Dehcho, South Slave and Sahtu regions.

Boreal caribou have a distinctive appearance. They are larger than barrenground caribou with thicker, broader antlers, and longer legs and faces. They are also a darker brown colour, Gau said.

"They're quite smart and secretive," said Gau.

Jonas Antoine is sure the numbers have fallen. "I'm concerned about them," he said.

Antoine, an elder of the Liidlii Kue First Nation in Fort Simpson, has hunted all his life. He's heard about a time when herds of 10 and sometimes 20 used to be common.

"Now if you see for or five together you are lucky," he said.

Antoine said the Enbridge pipeline has already disrupted a lot of wildlife, adding more development conditions will make conditions worse.

"They don't like interruptions," Antoine said about boreal caribou.

Gau said it's too early to tell if boreal caribou numbers have declined or increased in the North, but across their range in the rest of Canada the numbers have fallen because of habitat loss. Caribou living near roads and seismic lines are more vulnerable to predators including hunters, he said. In 2004 the boreal caribou population was labelled as threatened in the federal Species at Risk Act.