Caribou are the lifeblood of northern ecosystems. The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), also known as the caribou in North America, is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, sub-Arctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. Status of Porcupine Caribou and Barren-ground Caribou in the NWT Page iv Assessment of Porcupine Caribou Herd The Northwest Territories Species at Risk Committee met in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories on April 5, 2017 and assessed the biological status of the Porcupine caribou herd, a When we think of caribou, many of us picture massive herds on epic migrations in the north. The Porcupine caribou herd range includes the Northwest Territories (NWT), Yukon and Alaska, with the calving grounds located along the Arctic coast in Alaska and Yukon. In order to try to understand the herd better, researchers monitor for changes in the herd’s size and composition. The Porcupine Caribou Management Board is a joint management board to manage, protect and maintain the Porcupine herd’s habitat within Canada. A caribou herd in northwestern Alaska has been the state's largest for several years, but its population is on a downward slide and now it may have lost that status. DOWNLOAD Porcupine Caribou animation (3.26Mb) - Shows movements of 98 satellite collared adult females between 1985 and 2007. The Porcupine Caribou herd is one of the largest migratory barren ground caribou herds in North America. Much of the herd’s calving and post-calving ranges exist within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the North Slope in Alaska. According to a 2017 survey, there are about 218,000 animals in the Porcupine herd. Animation should open automatically in QuickTime Player . The Gwich'in people, followed the Porcupine caribou herd—their primary source of food, tools, and clothing—for thousands of years—according to oral tradition, for as long as 20,000 years. The South Selkirks mountain caribou: endangered icons and the world’s southernmost caribou herd Read our latest update on mountain caribou here, or check out this detailed coverage from British Columbia blog The Narwhal.. A unique ecotype of the woodland caribou subspecies (rangifer tarandus caribou), mountain caribou reside in limited numbers in interior British Columbia and western Alberta.
Porcupine caribou's (R. t. granti) 1,500 miles (2,400 km) 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. Every year, the Porcupine caribou herd embarks on the longest land mammal migration in the world, covering over four thousand kilometres of the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Alaska.
The International Porcupine Caribou Agreement is important to Canada because First Nations in the Yukon and Northwest Territories rely on this caribou herd for sustenance. They continued their nomadic lifestyle until the 1870s. Agreements, Treaties, Co-Management Boards and status for the Porcupine Caribou herd The Porcupine Caribou herd is one of the largest migratory caribou herds in North America, with a range extending from Alaska through Yukon and into the Northwest Territories in … All caribou in Canada are at risk of extinction. Animation should open automatically in QuickTime Player . The Porcupine herd ranges between the northwest of the NWT, Across northern Yukon to Alaska. This herd is also traditional food for the Inupiat, Inuvialuit, Hän, and Northern Tutchone. Thursday, November 22, 2018, 2:35 PM - The Bathurst and Bluenose East caribou herds have declined by more than 50 per cent since 2015, according to the N.W.T.
The boreal woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), also known as woodland caribou, boreal forest caribou and forest-dwelling caribou, is a North American subspecies of the reindeer (or the caribou in North America) with the vast majority of animals in Canada.Unlike the Porcupine caribou and barren-ground caribou, boreal woodland caribou are primarily, but not always, sedentary. They last peaked at 178,000 in 1989, which was … For countless generations, they have sustained the livelihoods of Indigenous nations across the Arctic. They last peaked at 178,000 in 1989, which was followed by a drop to 123,000 in 2001. Regardless of where Porcupine caribou calve, most of the herd is typically found on the Arctic Refuge in late June because of the high-quality forage and insect-free habitats available here. The 197,000 member Porcupine caribou herd has … Porcupine Caribou Herd Like antlered gypsies, barren ground caribou are always on the move. The Porcupine caribou population has hit a record high of 218,000, according to a separate DFG release. It roams over approximately 250,000 km2 or 96,526 mi2 of Northern Alaska, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. Update: On December 5, 2016 (after this story went to press), the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) added barren-ground caribou, which includes the Porcupine caribou herd, to their list of threatened species. …