Your Cross-Canada Caribou Update – Part One

Photo: Jillian / Adobe Stock

When it came up that it was time to share a cross-Canada update on the status of caribou, as a total wildlife nerd, I jumped at the opportunity. 🤓

Did you know that caribou in Canada are technically the same species (Rangifer tarandus) as reindeer in northern Europe and Asia¹, or that the Porcupine Caribou population in the Yukon makes the largest migration each year of ANY mammal on the planet²? 🦌

These fun facts and so many more are exactly why I love wildlife, and why having this task has meant so much to me – the opportunity to report on a key species in Canada that is endangered in every province, which is a cornerstone of many Indigenous Nations’ cultures, and which provides an important way to understand the ecological health of our natural spaces.

Protecting caribou is complicated because of their spread across the country and because they move across provincial and national borders.

For me, learning about the animals’ biology, and getting a better understanding of their significance to First Nations, whose ancestors had, and in many cases still have, a close connection with caribou for thousands of years, helps me to have a deeper appreciation of them and how uniquely important they are to our great north.

To do this, I spoke to CPAWS conservation staff, Malkolm Boothroyd at CPAWS Yukon, Pier-Olivier Boudreault at SNAP Quebec, and with Benoit Croteau and Iris Lochon, of the Abitibiwinni First Nation Environmental Office in Pikogan, Quebec.

There’s so much to share (even if its only hoofing at the surface) that this blog is coming to you in two-parts. Today we look at some biology and the cultural significance of caribou, as well as the main threats facing their populations. In October, we’ll look at their status regionally across Canada.

First: some caribou biology

Map of the global range of caribou and reindeer

Figure 1: Global range of caribou and reindeer³.

When I said caribou is all one species, it depends how you look at it. It could be argued that there are several species, or several subspecies of caribou with different habitats and biology. Those subspecies are then broken down into ‘populations’ or ‘herds’ that generally stay together while they migrate in their ranges⁴. 🦌

Caribou are part of the Cervidae family, along with deer, elk and moose. Like others in this group, the males (and in the case of caribou, also the females) grow and shed new antlers each year⁵. Where caribou differ is that they have very wide hooves to help them stay above the snow or soft ground and which grow sharp edges in the fall to help them break through ice to find food. They also have thick coats that help them live in cold and snowy environments⁶. 🫎

Caribou survived multiple ice ages over their 1.8-million-year reign and outlived mammoths and sabre-toothed cats⁷. 🦣You’d think that they would be impervious to human actions and continue to survive unaffected forever!

Unfortunately, that’s not the case, and in fact, most populations of caribou in Canada are threatened. Caribou are such sensitive animals that they are considered indicator species, meaning they can give signals that an ecosystem is changing. They need old forests free of disturbance: where there are many caribou, we can take it as an indication that the ecosystem is healthy⁸.

Cultural Significance

For many Indigenous communities in the north, their survival is deeply linked to the caribou. Dana Tizya-Tramm, a former Chief of Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation in Old Crow, Yukon, a territory that overlaps with that of the breeding ground for the Porcupine caribou herd said,

“We are quite literally intrinsically tied to these animals and what happens to them will directly happen to us.”

For the Abitibiwinni Nation, in last 50 years, the community has been losing the connection with caribou as the animals’ range has been reduced to the north of the territory where there is less disturbance to the habitat. This is hard on the Nation’s culture as much of their cultural practices, such as creating and using tools and clothing, and language related to caribou practices are slowly disappearing. As Benoit said, “the worry is that, if we don’t hunt for a decade, we will slowly lose our knowledge of caribou entirely.” The Nation’s members voluntarily refrain from hunting caribou, and the hope is that, while protecting the herd’s range, the population can be restored such that the Nation can once again hunt, and thus restore the cultural link. 🪶

The importance of caribou as a food source is especially important as foods in the north are increasingly unaffordable. Nevertheless, many Indigenous communities across Canada have been leading the calls for the protection of caribou populations, and CPAWS strives to support their efforts in the most meaningful and effective ways possible, including working closely with Indigenous partners on caribou conservation projects and supporting Indigenous voices and strategies on caribou stewardship.

Photo: Michael Lookman

Caribou at risk

Though caribou across the country experience different conditions specific to the province(s) they are in, they also share many of the same threats.

Extensive ranges are needed by caribou so that they can access adequate food and breeding habitat over the seasons. Caribou evolved with habitats that were expansive and entirely connected: landscapes that would allow them to eat the available plants in an area, and then migrate to find more food. The challenge is that these large areas need to have very minimal disturbance, and that’s increasingly hard to find nowadays. For instance, to give boreal caribou herds a chance to survive into the future, science tells us we need to keep 65% – at the bare minimum – of their habitat undisturbed by human activities such as forestry, mining, seismic lines, road networks, or oil and gas activity⁹, and environmental imbalances such as wildfires, and insect infestations¹⁰. 🛻

When their landscapes are disturbed by industry, and forests become sparser or broken up as a result, not only does it become more challenging for caribou to find food, but it also makes it easier for predators such as wolves to hunt them. This is troublesome because the populations in some areas are so precarious that even a few extra deaths are harmful to the population overall¹¹. With their habitat fragmented, many caribou herds have shrunk in number – and some herds have disappeared altogether. Some herds, such as the Val d’Or, Charlevoix and Gaspésie populations in Quebec have been artificially fenced to make sure they survive¹². 🐺🐻

In many areas of the country, wildfires compound the challenge of interrupted ranges. Prior to industrial development, if a wildfire started, wildlife like caribou could easily escape to an unaffected area. Now crisscrossing roads, mines, pipelines, and logging sites make it much more difficult for caribou to flee fires. Furthermore, climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of wildfires. This has us worried about how caribou and their ecosystems will be impacted in the future¹³.🔥   

The threats to caribou habitat make protected areas essential to their survival. The species’ ranges need to be large and connected enough to give the caribou a chance to survive. By driving the establishment of effective protected areas across the country, CPAWS is helping ensure that caribou (and other species) have spaces large enough to support their biological needs. So how is Canada doing on protecting caribou? ⛰️

Stay tuned for Part Two

Please pop in next month for Your Cross-Canada Caribou Update – Part Two, when I provide updates from our chapters on how caribou are faring across Canada and what you can do to help ensure these magnificent animals are strongly protected for generations to come.