Province Moves to Boost Northern Caribou Numbers
Saturday, November 10, 2012 @ 3:56 AM
Prince George, B.C.- The Provincial Government has announced it is taking steps to try and increase the Northern Caribou herds in the South Peace.
Northern Caribou in the South Peace are part of a larger population that ranges throughout B.C., from the Alberta border west to the coastal mountain ranges and north into the Yukon. Approximately 17,000 Northern Caribou live in B.C. and those that live in the South Peace region are seeing a decline in their numbers. The South Peace Northern Caribou are listed as “threatened” under the federal Species at Risk Act.
The goal of the measures being taken by the Province, is to increase the herd from 1,100 animals to 1,200 within three caribou generations. The Ministry of the Environment says if there is no action taken, the herd will decline to 800 animals over the next 21 years.
The plan calls for possible cancellation or deferral of tenure applications in order to protect 90% of the high elevation winter caribou habitat. The plan will see a review of boundaries and practices under Forest and Range Practices Act and Oil and Gas Activities Act in low elevation forests to ensure they are consistent with current research on caribou habitat use. The review could mean some roads will be deactivated, and mining activity applications may need to be modified.
The plan also calls for Caribou population management which could include rearing caribou through maternal pens, transplants and captive breeding.
Comments
Unless they control predators it will all be for naught.
No mention of predator control at all, again.
The cause of caribou herds shrinking throughout the province has been repeatedly studied and found to be excessive predation. Specifically, loss of calves during the summer so that too few are left to replace the adults that die each year from various causes. The predators are wolves, black bears, and grizzly bears. Unfortunately, these are all icons of love for the urban folks.
So we mess around with regulations restricting industrial activities, which mostly helps protect caribou winter habitat. Unless the actual cause of deaths exceeding births of the caribou is addressed, protecting more habitat is rather pointless. Predator control tends to be a bit messy, the close up pictures of blood and panic being more that many people can stomach.
“Maternal pens” is a rather costly way of keeping predators away from calves long enough to let the calves grow up. We can’t predict the effect (possibly detrimental)these pens may have on other aspects of caribou biology such as parasite build up or migration patterns.
Until the issue of predation is addressed, caribou populations throughout the province are headed for extinction.
Very well said chuck.
Just try to get that through to them though.
Wolverines are also very active predators.
Pipelines too!
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