User:Oceanflynn/sandbox/Caribou herds in Canada

Caribou herds in Canada are discrete populations of the four subspecies, Rangifer tarandus—Barren ground (R. t. groenlandicus), Woodland (R. t. caribou), Grant’s (R. t. granti), and Peary (R. t. pearyi), —and their ecotypes, that are represented in Canada. Caribou herds can be found from the High Arctic region south to the boreal forest and Rocky Mountains and from the east to the west coasts. Arctic peoples, including the Caribou Inuit, the inland-dwelling Inuit of the Kivalliq Region in northern Canada, the Caribou Clan in Yukon, the Inupiat, the Inuvialuit, the Hän, the Northern Tutchone, and the Gwich'in (who followed the Porcupine caribou for millennia), have depended on caribou for food, clothing, and shelter. The responsibility for the management and monitoring of herds is often shared between Inuit, Métis, and First Nations communities, local hunter and trapper associations, territorial and provincial governments, and the federal government.

Ranges
Caribou herds can be found from the High Arctic region south to the boreal forest and Rocky Mountains and from the east to the west coasts.

In their August 2008 scientific review and, Environment Canada established that in order to monitor and manage the boreal caribou's recovery, they would use "local population range" as the "relevant spatial scale for the identification of critical habitat" because "habitat conditions within boreal caribou ranges affect their survival and reproduction." This includes the spatial configuration, quantity, quality of habitat that local population need to survive. In 2008, there were "57 recognized local populations or units of analysis for Boreal caribou in Canada." The 2008 report described three measurable criteria for monitoring caribou habitat population trend—Declining (D), Stable (S), Increasing (I) or Unknown (U), population size—Very Small, Small, or Above Critical, and range disturbance— Very Low, Low, Moderate, High or Very High.

By 2018, the boreal woodland caribou had 51 herds, and the Southern Mountain Caribou population had 15. By 2019, the Southern Mountain Caribou South Selkirk herd was extirpated (locally extinct).

In Québec's, the small herds of the Atlantic-Gaspésie woodland caribou in the Gaspésie's isolated "alpine habitats on mountain plateaus" are designated on SARA's Schedule 1 as endangered with fewer than 120 adults in 2014 with an anticipated date of extinction of 2056. They were once widespread with a habitat that spanned New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Their numbers decreased with development including forest management models that increased the populations of their predators like the Eastern Coyote and black bear.
 * Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou

In British Columbia "Herd plans are currently being developed for each of the 54 herds in B.C."

Subspecies
There are four subspecies of Rangifer tarandus represented in Canada, '—Woodland (R. t. caribou), Grant’s (R. t. granti), and Barren ground (R. t. groenlandicus), Peary (R. t. pearyi).

The four subspecies are all found in Inuit Nunangat.

For purposes of management and conservation, caribou populations are further divided into the boreal population in Yukon, Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador which includes the George River caribou and the Leaf River caribou, the Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou population in Quebec, the Dolphin-Union caribou in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, the barren-ground population in Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba which includes the large migratory herds such as the Ahiak herd, the Baffin Island herds, the Bathurst herd, the Beverly herd (Beverly Lake in western Nunavut), the Bluenose East herd (southwest of Kugluktuk), the Bluenose West herd, the Porcupine herd, the Qamanirjuaq herd, Lorillard herd, Wager Bay herd, Pen Islands herd, Cape Churchill herd, Southampton Island Herd, and Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula Herd. Porcupine caribou herd, Bluenose west herd, and the Dolphin Union herd, the Central Mountain population in British Columbia and Alberta, the Southern Mountain population in British Columbia, the Eastern Migratory population of Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Torngat Mountains population of Nunavut, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Newfoundland population in Newfoundland and Labrador and the Northern Mountain population in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and British Columbia, Eastern Migratory in Newfoundland, Northern Mountain in British Columbia, Dolphin and Union, and Peary caribou.

Barren-ground caribou (R. t. groenlandicus)
The most abundant caribou with are the migratory barren-ground caribou which consist of huge herds that migrate annually to and from their natal grounds taking routes that are usually predictable. Barren-ground caribou are "slightly larger and darker". In Canada major barren-ground herds include the Porcupine caribou herd, Cape Bathurst herd, Bluenose West herd, Bluenose east herd, Bathurst herd, Ahiak herd, and the Dolphin Union herd. Because they migrate to the tundra, both the Leaf River herd and George River herd are often included with the barren-ground caribou.


 * Bluenose East-Bathurst caribou

The Bluenose East-Bathurst caribou, (southwest of Kugluktuk), are cross-border caribou herds, with migrations that bring them into both Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. In 2016, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board with the endorsement of the Government of Nunavut developed a "community-based caribou plan" for Kugluktuk that limited harvest to 340 caribou. In 2019, government representatives from Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Kugluktuk MLA Mila Kamingoak, biologists from the Nunavut and N.W.T., representatives from N.W.T. First Nations groups, Nunavut hunters and trappers organizations including Kugluktuk Hunters and Trappers Organization (HTO) worked together to improve management of the Bluenose East-Bathurst caribou herds. In 2016, although both Nunavut and N.W.T. governments opposed mining exploration on Bluenose East caribou calving grounds, the project went ahead.

Gwich’in in the Northwest Territories have hunted Bluenose East and Bluenose West barren-ground caribou ( R. t. granti) herds and the Porcupine caribou herds (R. t. groenlandicus) from time immemorial. The word for caribou in the Gwich’in language, which is part of the an Athabaskan language, is tradivadzaih.

"Because of a continual decline of the Bathurst caribou population, the GNWT imposed a hunting ban for resident and outfitter hunters in 2010. The people of Wekweètì were still allowed to hunt a total of 150 animals, until the winter of 2015 when GNWT imposed a total hunting ban for all hunters. As the population continued to decline, the Tłı̨chǫ Government responded by introducing its own ban on hunting the Bathurst herd in October 2015. Caribou hunting is an important channel for the practice of Tłı̨chǫ culture and way of life on the land. The ban on hunting has created much hardship for families who usually rely on caribou as the main food source. Now they need to rely on the monetary system and financial support to buy store bought food."
 * Bathurst herd

According to the official Canadian government site, the Dolphin-Union caribou are unique and while they resemble the Peary Caribou, they seem to be genetically related to Barren-ground Caribou.

Boreal woodland (R. t. caribou)
The boreal forest of Canada is the vital habitat of the endangered subspecies, the boreal caribou. The survival of boreal caribou depends on maintaining "large unbroken swaths" of the forest to protect the animals from their predators. The boreal forest—which is not monolithic but a patchwork—sweeps through parts of all provinces and territories except Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. It covers approximately 25% of Canada's total landmass—270 million hectares—and consists of "swamps, bogs, meadows, forests of different types — including hardwoods and conifers — and the rivers and lakes that tie them all together". It represents 75 per cent of the nation's forests.

The boreal woodland caribou are the largest caribou in Canada. They have the darkest coloured fur and their boreal forest habitat stretches from Newfoundland to British Columbia in a irregular distribution. Most boreal woodland caribou are not migratory. Some populations, especially those that inhabit mountainous regions, like the Central Mountain population in British Columbia and Alberta, the Southern Mountain population in British Columbia, the Eastern Migratory population of Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Torngat Mountains population of Nunavut, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northern Mountain caribou, move with the seasons to different elevations.

The forest-tundra ecotype of migratory woodland caribou, the George River caribou and the Leaf River caribou, migrate between forest and tundra.

In southern Labrador and northeastern Quebec, the range of three herds of sedentary woodland caribou, the Lac Joseph herd (LJH) 59 000 km2, the Red Wine Mountains herd (RWMH) 46 000 km2, and the Mealy Mountains herd (MMH) 28 000 km2 is bounded on the north by the George River herd, which is a migratory forest-tundra caribou (migratory ecotype). In the winter the multiple herds intermingle when the George River herd "enters the outer portions of the sedentary caribou ranges. The Lac Joseph-Atikonak Lake area is as a major calving and summering area for the Lac Joseph Woodland Caribou herd. Eastern migratory caribou herds include four subpopulations such as the the George River herd. The George River caribou are woodland caribou and are one of four subpopulations of the Eastern Migratory herds of caribou in northern Canada. The herd’s range extends through Labrador and Northern Québec (Labrador Woodland Caribou Recovery Team, 2004).

The cross boundary South Selkirk mountain caribou, a woodland mountain caribou, an ecotype of the boreal woodland caribou, had roamed the southern end of the Selkirk Mountains crossing the border between British Columbia, Canada and northern Idaho, eastern Washington, in the United States. They were the last naturally occurring caribou herd in the contiguous United States.
 * South Selkirk mountain caribou

In 2009 the herd of 50 animals was declining, by April 2018, only three remained, According to David Moskovitz, author of Caribou Rainforest: From Heartbreak to Hope in 2019, the "last member of the last herd to regularly cross into the lower 48 states from Canada", a female, was moved in January 2019,  a captive rearing pen near Revelstoke. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) announced in is scientific journal, Science, that British Columbia's provincial biologists had captured the female caribou in Canada in the hopes of "preserving highly endangered herds".

By 2019, the Southern Mountain Caribou South Selkirk herd was extirpated (locally extinct).

Porcupine caribou (R. t. granti)
Porcupine caribou migrate 1,500 miles annually from their winter range in the boreal forests of Alaska and Yukon northwest Canada over the mountains boreal forests to their calving grounds n the Porcupine River coastal plain on the Beaufort Sea. caribou calves are born in the first week of June and they are at their most vulnerable from their primary predators on the calving ground - golden eagles, grizzly bears and wolves - during the first three weeks when they are dependent on milk from their mothers. About one quarter of them die during this period. Their 1,500 miles annual land migration between their winter range in the boreal forests of Alaska and northwest Canada over the mountains to the coastal plain and their calving grounds on the Beaufort Sea coastal plain, is the longest of any land mammal on earth.

Peary caribou (R. t. pearyi)
The smallest caribou are the Peary caribou (R. t. pearyi) that live on the Canadian Arctic Archipelago islands. Their fur is the lightest colour. Habitat suitable for their survival is very limited.

Ecotypes
In Canada, caribou are classified by ecotype, which is defined by their habitat, for example, woodland or barren-ground, and by their behaviour, for example, migratory. There are several ecotypes of Rangifer tarandus caribou woodland caribou, (boreal woodland caribou), woodland (migratory) and woodland (mountain).

According to Mallory and Hillis in their 1996 article in Rangifer, commonly used taxonomic designations did "not appear to reflect current ecological conditions". They observed that "populations of the same subspecies have evolved different demographic and behavioural adaptations, while populations from separate sub-species have evolved similar demographic and behavioural patterns." Examples they provided included Insular ecotype, montane ecotype, barren-ground ecotype,, and woodland caribou ecotype.

I = increasing; S = stable; D = declining; TH = threatened.

Herds
Also for purposes of management and monitoring, caribou are subdivided into discrete herds/populations and/or designated units.

In a 2011 article entitled, "Northern caribou population trends in Canada", researchers listed herds/populations including 35 northern caribou herds across the Canadian Arctic.


 * Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR), Northwest Territories (NT)

Migrations
Woodland and barren-ground migratory caribou herds usually return to the calving grounds of the females in the herd and are often named after these areas. This is referred to female natal philopatry or natal homing. Examples include the George River caribou herd (GRCH), Leaf River caribou herd (LRCH), Porcupine caribou, also known as Grant's caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti).

Caribou management and conservation
Caribou are included on the Minister of the Environment's List of Wildlife Species at Risk which federally recognizes species with designations ranging from of special concern, threatened, endangered, extirpated, to extinct under Schedule I of the Species at Risk Act (SARA). The list is update annually based on assessments by Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) experts and scientists. Caribou populations that are on Schedule 1 and are listed as threatened include the Boreal population in Yukon, Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador. Caribou herds that are listed as endangered and are included on Schedule 1 include the The Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou population in Quebec and the Dolphin and Union population in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The Barren-ground population in Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba are listed as threatened abut not included on Schedule 1. Central Mountain population in British Columbia and Alberta, the Southern Mountain population in British Columbia, the Eastern Migratory population of Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Torngat Mountains population of Nunavut, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador are listed as endangered but are not included on Schedule 1. The Newfoundland population in Newfoundland and Labrador and the Northern Mountain population in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and British Columbia are listed as Special Concern and are not included on Schedule 1. The Caribou dawsoni subspecies Rangifer tarandus dawsoni of British Columbia are listed as extinct.

The April 2018 report by the Auditor General of Canada there are 51 herds of the boreal woodland caribou with 37 of them in decline.

What was once the largest caribou herd in the world with 800,000–900,000 animals, the George River caribou herd (GRCH), in the Ungava Peninsula of Quebec and Labrador in eastern Canada, had declined to 14, 2000 animals by 2014.

By 2011, the Leaf River Herd (LRH) (Rivière-aux-Feuilles) herd decreased to 430,000 caribou in 2011 and could be threatened with extinction by 2080.

In 2018, the Nunatsiavut government asked the Newfoundland-Labrador to not classify the George River and Torngat Mountains caribou herds as endangered because Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) used outdated data on the size of the herds.

In a 2018 article, Canadian Geographic listed the declining populations across Canada. These included the Eastern Migratory caribou declining from 1,100,000 to 225,000 and listed as endangered, Newfoundland populations declining from 100,000 to 32,000 listed as special concern, boreal woodland caribou declining at 33,000 listed as threatened, barren ground caribou declining from 2,000,000 to 300,000 listed as threatened, Atlantic-Gaspesie caribou declined from 1,500 to 130 listed as endangered, Torngat Mountains caribou declining from 5,000 to 1,400 listed as endangered, Central mountain declining from 1,300 to 500 listed as endangered, Southern mountain declined from 2,500 to 1,400 listed as endangered, Northern Mountain caribou declining from 48,000 to 43, 000 listed as special concern, Dolphin and Union declining from 100,000 to 20, 000 listed as endangered, and Peary caribou declining from 50,000 to 13,700 listed as threatened.

Common Names: Caribou (English and French); Qalipu/Xalibu (Mi’kmaq); Minunasawa atikw (Innu); Ahtik/Atik (Cree); Tǫdzi (Tłįchǫ); T’onzi/Tohzi (North Slavey); Vadzaih (Gwichin); Ch’atthaii (Vuntut Gwichin); (see COSEWIC 2012 regarding Aboriginal names). Seward Inupiaq tuttu Qawiaraq tuttu Malimiutun tuttu

North Slope tuttu Uummarmiutun tuttu Siglitun tuktu Inuinnaqtun tuktu Natsilik tuktu Kivalliq' tuktu Aivilik tuktu North Baffin tuktu South Baffin tuttu Nunavik tuttu Labrador Inuttut tuttuk North Greenlandic tuktu West Greenlandic tuttu East Greenlandic tuttuq