The Collapse of the Beverly Caribou Herd

Posted by Jeffrey St. Clair on December 4th, 2008 | Link

SIXTH ARCTIC CARIBOU HERD IN RAPID DECLINE

By Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

A new study of one of Canada’s largest caribou herds seems to confirm
fears that, like other herds in the western Arctic, it is suffering a
steep and mysterious population decline.

The massive Beverly herd, which roams the tundra from northern
Manitoba and Saskatchewan well into the Northwest Territories and
Nunavut, once numbered about 276,000. But a just-released survey
suggests the number of caribou cows on the herd’s calving grounds has
fallen by 98 per cent over the past 14 years.

Aerial spotting teams found only 93 cows on the tundra west of Baker
Lake, Nunavut, this summer.

In 1994, crews counted 5,737 cows on those same lines. The numbers
have been declining ever since: to 2,639 in 2002 and 189 in 2007.

The herd’s birth rate is now less than one-fifth its traditional
level. Spotters counted only 15 calves for every 100 cows instead of
the usual 80.

“It’s a very, very sharp downward trend,” said Ross Thompson of the
Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board, which oversees the
herd. “It is a concern that the herd has shown that few numbers.”

The survey was not intended to provide a population count, but does
provide an index of herd health. The Beverly herd now appears to have
joined five of the main western Arctic herds that appear to be in
serious, long-term decline.

The Bathurst herd, 472,000 strong in 1986, has lost about three-
quarters of its population since then. Since 1989, the 178,000-animal
Porcupine herd has fallen off by 30 per cent to 40 per cent.

The smaller Cape Bathurst, Bluenose East and Bluenose West herds have
decreased by at least a third. Studies are now being completed on the
Qamanirjuaq and Ahiak herds.

Nobody has a good explanation, Mr. Thompson said. “There isn’t any one
factor that anybody can identify. Something has happened over the
years.”

Some suggest that climate change, by altering the delicate timing of
spring thawing and calving, is playing a role. Others point to
increasing industrial activity on the tundra, noting that the Beverly
and Qamanirjuaq’s calving grounds are home to nearly 1,000 mineral
leases.

And some say modern hunting methods are impeding the herds’ ability to
recover.

The NWT conducted surveys on herds adjacent to the Beverly herd and
found no evidence that large numbers of animals were simply shifting
from one herd to the next, Mr. Thompson said.

Monte Hummel of the World Wildlife Fund, who has been closely involved
with caribou research, agrees a variety of factors are likely at play.
But he says the timing of the declines is suggestive.

“It’s a strange coincidence to me that all this industrial activity
happened at the same time as this caribou decline.”

Although about half of the Beverly’s calving grounds is inside the
67,000-square-kilometre Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary straddling the NWT-
Nunavut boundary, the half most heavily used falls outside the
preserve.

Mr. Hummel said governments should adopt a “precautionary principle”
and not add stressors to the herds such as new development until the
declines are better understood.

Nunavut Environment Minister Dan Shewchuk, a former member of the
Beverly caribou management board, was not available for comment
yesterday .

Caribou herds are vital to the diet and culture of thousands of Inuit,
Dene and Metis across the North. Estimates put the value of the
Beverly herd alone at $20-million a year to the people who depend on
it.

The apparent collapse of the western caribou herds led to a “caribou
summit” in Inuvik in January of 2007. One of the main recommendations
was the protection of calving grounds. No new calving grounds have
been protected from industrial development since then.