Caribou

Robert's Thoughts

Comments (0) / January 31, 2025

When you examine a twenty-five cent Canadian coin closely (we call them  “quarters”) you’ll find the image of an animal on it that looks like a cow with horns on its head. You know that’s impossible, so you begin a guessing game: is it the image of one of Santa’s reindeer’s, or perhaps, of a moose, or maybe, of an elk or a caribou.

Elk, moose, caribou and reindeer are all species of deer. They possess similar body shapes: paired antlers, even toes with bigger hooves… etc. And they used to roam in huge herds covering thousands of kilometers each year.

So here’s the deal. Reindeer and caribou are one and the same. They are often  called “reindeer” if they are domesticated, or “caribou” if they are more wild. Also, they are usually called “reindeer” if they come from Europe and Asia, and “caribou” if they originate from North America. Either way, they are the same animal, so call them what you will.

There are several types of caribou, but they all share characteristics that help survival in the North: bigger hooves, thicker furs, fur on the nose, lighter build, and antlers on the head on both male and female. (The male sheds his antlers in winter, which, incidentally, are for impressing the female and not for fighting)

Caribou are symbols of Canada’s large, undisturbed landscapes. They’re also very important to Indigenous cultures, histories, and connections with the land.

Canada has ten provinces and three federal territories.  These thirteen political sub-units each have its own government that is responsible, inter alia, for wildlife protection and conservation in its own territory.

It would help national unity if the caribou were respected and cared for equally across the country.

This is not happening.

Unfortunately, according to the 2018 report by the Auditor General of Canada, of the 51 herds of the boreal woodland caribou existing in the country, 37 of them were in decline.

Between 2001 and 2024 the Leaf River (Rivière-aux-Feuilles) Herd decreased from 628,000 to 168,000 caribou and is threatened with extinction by 2080.

What was once the largest caribou herd in the world, the George River Herd, declined from 823,000 animals in 1990 to 7,200 by 2024. (It used to roam the Ungava Peninsula of Quebec and Labrador in eastern Canada.) 

CARIBOU IN CANADA IS HEADED TOWARD OVERALL EXTINCTION.

Why?

Four main reasons:

  1. Climate Change,
  2. Loss of Habitat caused mainly by expanding Human Infrastructure,
  3. Indiscriminate Hunting,  and, surprisingly,
  4. Competition from their larger and more invasive cousin, the Moose. Both species overlap in Canada and Alaska where they struggle and compete to survive over vast swathes of frozen wasteland.

Now scientists are suggesting that we kill one to save the other.

“Conservation often requires difficult decisions.” –Joshua Rapp Learn

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