Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Colville Lake (Mar 27/00) - Healthy and hearty dinners have been just a short walk away for residents of this Sahtu community this winter.

For the first time in decades, large numbers of barrenground caribou have been wintering on Colville Lake within walking distance of the community of the same name.

Chief Richard Kochon said there are thousands of caribou within sight of his community of 100 people. Kochon's main concern was respecting the animals.

"We're really happy they're here, staying close to the community," he said. "And we try to take care of the caribou as much as we can, teach the kids how to treat them."

Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development regional biologist Alasdair Veitch said it is difficult to estimate how many caribou are wintering on the lake, but said, "It's thousands, many thousands -- anybody in Colville Lake who wants caribou meat right now has caribou meat."

Kochon said the caribou have been near the community since November. The last time he saw such numbers on the lake was in the 1970s. The traditional name of the community, Behdzi Ahda, means caribou point.

The selection of Colville Lake as a wintering ground is part of the vagaries of caribou migration, said Veitch. "They come below the treeline each winter and use different parts of their range each year. Where they winter depends on things like snow depth, food availability, wind direction."

The animals on Colville Lake are part of the Bluenose West herd. It calves between Paulatuk and Kugluktuk.