WOODLAND CARIBOU IN SASKATCHEWAN

	- Bruce Petersen

About the Caribou: The woodland caribou is the largest subspecies of caribou, and is a rare and spectacularly beautiful animal, superbly adapted to survive in the boreal forest. The caribou is able to reproduce where other large species would perish.

Woodland caribou epitomize boreal forest wilderness and conservation across Canada. It is an enduring emblem of the North, contributing to the wilderness image of Canada's vast and beautiful boreal forest. Many First Nations and Métis people have revered woodland caribou for generations. The caribou have provided many communities with a vital source of food.

The boreal woodland caribou's sensitivity to habitat change, specialized habitat requirements, and unique adaptations make them an important indicator of the integrity of a well functioning forest ecosystem. The presence of a secure population of woodland caribou is clear evidence that we possess large tracts of healthy forest.

Woodland caribou live in small groups and do not undertake long-range migrations. They typically do move extensively however, among habitats within their range.

Both woodland caribou and barren ground caribou are native animals to Saskatchewan's boreal forest. The barren ground caribou typically lives in the far north and migrates within large herds in and out of our province.The woodland caribou range is more southerly although its range does overlap with the barren ground caribou.

What's Happening to the Caribou?

Woodland caribou populations are declining in many places across Canada's boreal forest as a result of habitat loss, fragmentation and other habitat changes. These animals are tightly woven into the fabric of boreal forest ecosystems. Predators such as wolves, normally find it difficult to find these animals as they move quietly through dense tree stands. But this protective mechanism is quickly short-circuited when roads, clear-cuts or seismic lines are punched into previously intact forests.

The logged forest is not a good place for woodland caribou because they lose valuable old growth forest habitat, food sources, and protection from human hunters as well as natural predators. Increases in populations of deer and moose that are drawn to younger, post-logging forests bring with them increases in wolf populations, as well as increased exposure to a brain parasite carried by deer that is fatal to caribou.

The result is that woodland caribou populations are increasingly declining, having disappeared from vast areas of the forest across Canada in less than 100 years. Scientists predict that if we do not protect the large areas of intact forest woodland caribou need to survive, they could disappear entirely in many areas within 100 years or less.

In Saskatchewan caribou numbers are declining in the southern regions of the forest where logging is intensive. The Saskatchewan population is listed on the National Endangered Species list as "threatened'. At the provincial level, the caribou has been on a ' waiting list' for a long time, to be officially 'listed'.

Woodland Caribou Recovery Planning

CPAWS Saskatchewan is a member of the Saskatchewan Woodland Caribou Management Team. The team has been working under a framework of existing legislation, policies and legal agreements at both Federal and Provincial levels. Members of the team represent governments, the forest industry, the mining industry, First Nations, Métis, trappers, outfitters, and conservation groups.

Strategies are being developed for management and recovery of the caribou. Eventually, action plans will also be developed for implementation of specific management strategies for specific areas of the forest. Management strategies will consider a variety of issues including priority areas for caribou, industrial practices on the land, other human activities on the land, fire suppression, resource extraction issues and global warming impacts. CPAWS's role at the planning table is to promote protection of critical caribou habitat and to link caribou conservation to land use planning processes in the forest.

For More Information on the Woodland Caribou:

CPAWS National report on the woodland caribou
Federal Government report on the woodland caribou
Status of the Woodland Caribou in Saskatchewan.  By: Bob Godwin and Jeff Thorpe. June 2000. 44pp.ISBN 0-9681947-2-9. For copies, contact: Fish and Wildlife Branch, Saskatchewan Environment, 3211 Albert Street, Regina, SK  S4S 5W6, Phone: 306-787-2314, Fax: 306-787-9544.
Status and Conservation Management Framework for Woodland Caribou in Saskatchewan. By: Al. A. Arsenault, Wildlife Biologist, Saskatchewan Environment. December 2003. Saskatchewan Environment, Fish and Wildlife Technical Report 2003-03. For copies, contact: Fish and Wildlife Branch, Saskatchewan Environment, Room 436, 3211 Albert Street, Regina, SK  S4S 5W6.

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