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Spotlight on caribou Boreal herd may be put on species of concern list
Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, September 5, 2013
INUVIK
A little-known herd of caribou could be put on the NWT's species of concern list.
Natalka Melnycky, left, a wildlife biologist with the Gwich'in Renewable Resources Board, recently held a public information session on the boreal caribou in the NWT. The species may be placed on the threatened list. Also pictured is GRRB biologist Kristen Callaghan. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo
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The boreal caribou, part of the woodland caribou, is struggling all over Canada and the southern portions of the NWT, wildlife biologist Natalka Melnycky said.
She's working with the Gwich'in Renewable Resources Board on projects involving the caribou review, along with grizzly bears and collared pikas, a type of rodent.
About 10 people showed up Aug. 27 to attend a public information session on the caribou at the renewable resources board office in Inuvik.
Four were aboriginal hunters who said there wasn't much pressure on the caribou, which are much more difficult to hunt than the barren-ground caribou.
The boreal caribou is primarily an animal of deep, mature forests that doesn't do well without uninterrupted expanses of bush to roam. They feed primarily on lichens that can take as long as 100 years to grow back.
Development pressures from resource-based exploration are a clear hazard, Melnycky said, as are the increasing numbers of forest fires.
Approximately 6,500 boreal caribou are estimated to live in the NWT, she said. About 550 are believed to be found in the Gwich'in Settlement Area.
They can occasionally be seen on the outskirts of Inuvik.
Kristen Callaghan, another wildlife biologist with the GRRB, said she's seen them near the Mike Zubko Airport, and Melnycky said she's seen the occasional caribou on the Dempster Highway heading for Tsiigehtchic.
Boreal caribou are a non-migratory species that rarely move more than 100 kilometres from their home ranges, she said.
They occur in low densities in small groups generally numbering about a handful of animals. That's mostly to avoid predation by wolves, the apex predator for caribou.
The population estimates have been extrapolated from radio-collared animals between 2002 and 2009.
While researchers believe those numbers are fairly accurate, the behaviour and range of the species is such that it would be easy to over-estimate or under-estimate their numbers, Melnycky said.
In the northern and north-western regions of the NWT, the populations are considered secure, she told the audience.
In the southern reaches and the rest of Canada, the caribou's range is contracting steadily in the face of development, especially resource-based exploration, which is fracturing their habitat.
"They're likely to become endangered if nothing is done," Melnycky said.
The boreal caribou is listed as threatened by federal officials currently. The NWT populations could be considered a reservoir for the caribou to survive, and perhaps be used to reintroduce the animals elsewhere eventually.
The aboriginal hunters made several comments. Allen Firth said he wasn't concerned about listing the boreal caribou as threatened, so long as it didn't impact harvesting and hunting rights.
"Anything affecting aboriginal hunting is a concern for me," he said. "There are a lot of unknowns with these caribou."
The caribou's habits make it "much more work to hunt," the hunters agreed, and that reduces hunting pressure on them.
Their habits also means it's difficult and expensive to carry out field research on them that would better reveal their habits.
Mary Aulin asked whether listing the animals as threatened would mean more research funding would be available to study them.
Melnycky agreed that would likely be the case. Aulin said that would be an obvious benefit from the listing.
Most of the spectators indicated they would be cautiously in favour of listing the animals as threatened instead of waiting and trying to make up for lost time later.
Jordan Lenz asked how long it would take to develop and implement a plan.
Melnycky said it would likely take at least two years. If the boreal caribou isn't listed now, it won't face another status review for at least another two years.
"A plan would be developed, community consultations would be held and then it would be implemented," she said.
Melnycky expects to complete a report to the GRRB board of directors by Sept. 19.
In consultation with other organizations and the GNWT, the decision could then be made as to whether the boreal caribou will be officially placed on the NWT species of concern list.
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