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Southern Lakes Caribou Recovery Program Progress Report: 1992-1996

Goals

During February and May of 1993, representatives from six First Nations, local residents, and biologists gathered in Carcross to discuss what could be done to help dwindling caribou numbers in the Southern Lakes area. Out of these meetings came the Southern Lakes Caribou Recovery Plan, a five-year work plan aimed at bringing back the caribou.

The overall goals of the Recovery Plan were based on the participants' collective knowledge of the history of the caribou and of factors which contributed to their decline. The objectives were to:

• Increase public knowledge and awareness of what the caribou herd once was, why it was declining, and what could be done to restore it.
• Document and use local knowledge of caribou and the land in developing this program.
• Reduce harvest of the caribou to allow recovery of their numbers.
• Discourage human developments that were detrimental to the caribou, and encourage land management practices beneficial to caribou and other wildlife.
• Evaluate wolf and bear numbers and harvest, and develop management policies that are consistent with the Yukon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, to minimize the impact of predation during herd recovery.
• Keep close track of the numbers, survival, and range use by caribou, as well as alternative prey species such as moose and Dall sheep.
• Share the lessons learned about co-management of wildlife from this program with others.

Challenges

The Recovery Team in 1992 was faced with trying to devise a plan to bring back a caribou herd that was obviously fragmented and depleted. The reasons for this situation could have been many. Over-hunting, loss of habitat, lower range quality, and heavy predation could all have limited the growth of caribou numbers. Caribou had only been counted once in most areas since 1980, so the amount of information about them was sparse.

In response to concerns about the caribou, crews flew over much of the Southern Lakes area to gather information about them in the fall of 1992. Biologists had already been keeping track of caribou yearly in one area west of the Carcross Road (Ibex) since 1983. The purpose of these counts was to see whether low production of calves or low survival of adults was contributing to the lack of herd growth.

Caribou numbers in the Southern Lakes region had probably reached an all-time low by 1992, at an estimated 1000 animals. The remaining animals persisted in three different areas, in fairly distinct small herds. One of these, the Ibex herd, is resident between the Carcross Road and Kusawa Lake year-round, with short seasonal movements to alpine areas for calving. A second herd includes Carcross and Squanga and ranges over a wide mountainous area among the lakes, but concentrates into forested habitats centered around Marsh Lake during the winter. The third, the Atlin herd, ranges from south and east of Atlin, B.C. north to Teslin Lake.

Based on counts from 1983 to 1992, it was clear that there was no shortage of calves surviving until the fall in the Ibex herd, west of the Carcross Road. In fact, calf production here was the highest of any caribou herds surveyed in the Yukon. Given this productivity, the Ibex herd should have been doubling every four years. Instead though, it stayed at about the same level from 1983 to 1992, at an estimated 150 animals. This suggested that the survival of adult animals, or the winter survival of all animals, must be very low.

Graph: Ibex Herd Calf Production and Population Trend

Calf survival in other parts of the Southern Lakes region was considerably lower. The number of calves seen per 100 cows was only about 22, which is less than required for herd growth. In these areas, other factors such as predation or low birth rates may also have been contributing to the decline caribou numbers.

Several lines of evidence suggested that over-hunting of caribou was occurring. Although all licensed hunting of caribou was halted in 1989 elsewhere in the area, it remained open in the Squanga region north and east of Whitehorse. Here, hunters took an average of 9 caribou per year 1979 and 1992, out of an estimated population of 100-150 animals. This exceeded the 3% harvest level which is sustainable in northern woodland caribou herds. Residents of Carcross and Tagish also reported excessive shooting of animals in their area, by poachers and both local and non-resident First Nations hunters.

How We Study

RUT COUNTS
During the rutting season in September-October, the caribou gather in large groups of all ages and both sexes. As soon as there is enough snow cover to see tracks, crews fly over the herds and count the animals. While the total number of animals seen may vary from year to year, depending on the weather and how many groups are located, these counts give a good idea of how many calves have survived to the fall, and the percentage of the animals in the herd that are bulls.

WINTER RANGE SURVEYS
Woodland caribou migrate to concentrated lowland areas with low snow cover during the winter. Locating and protecting these critical habitats is essential for the long-term survival of the caribou. The locations of caribou and their tracks are mapped during the winter from an airplane that systematically flies over large areas of potential winter range. Collared caribou, caribou tracks, caribou resting on lakes, and slopes with signs of extensive feeding are searched for during these flights.

RADIO TELEMETRY
Radio collars are put on caribou to get more detailed information on their use of winter ranges, to locate calving and rutting areas, and to see how well the caribou and their calves survive. Each collar has a small transmitter with a unique radio frequency. The animals are captured with a net gun from a helicopter (no immobilizing drugs are used), and then re-located by crews with a special receiver from an airplane. Telemetry has allowed biologists to learn more about wildlife than was ever before possible. There are even new radio collars on the market that send their signals continuously to satellites, which provide very detailed information about what an animal is doing without having to fly to find the animal. These are very expensive though, and have not yet been used in this program.

FOOD HABITS
The droppings, or pellets, of caribou are collected and analyzed. This provides an idea of what the caribou are eating, and from this, an indication of the quality of their range.

LICHEN SURVEYS
Lichens are the main winter food of caribou, and they only grow in specific habitats. The amount of lichens present in the Southern Lakes area is measured by going to the different types of habitats, and weighing the lichens growing in small patches. This information can then be used, along with other information such as snow depth, to tell where the best winter habitat for caribou is located.