The Mountain Caribou…in an Uphill Battle.

Mountain caribou have large snowshoe-like hooves that make them well suited to subalpine foraging. Photo: Environmental Stewardship Branch, WLAP, Kootenay Region

The mountain caribou, with its snowshoe-like hooves and its penchant for arboreal lichen, have long roamed the old growth conifer forests of British Columbia’s interior. But clear cut logging, a growing network of roads, and an influx of heli-skiers and hikers are raising fears about the survival of this threatened species.

The mountain caribou is the common name given to an ecotype of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). In Canada they are found only in the Interior Temperate Rainforest (Interior Wet Belt) of the southeastern and east-central mountains of BC. Outside Canada, small numbers can be found in Idaho, Montana and Washington states.

Unlike other woodland caribou found further north, mountain caribou tend to migrate only short distances. Content to remain in the valleys consuming trees and shrubs in the summer, the mountain caribou head for sub-alpine areas in late winter, where they are uniquely adapted to feed nearly exclusively on tree-hanging lichens found in old growth conifer forests.

Even small herds of mountain caribou require a relatively large area of sub-alpine habitat to sustain them – an average-sized caribou needs to eat around 4.5 kg of arboreal lichen per day to survive the winter.

Mountain caribou have been extirpated from 43% of their historic range in BC. Photo: Environmental Stewardship Branch, WLAP, Kootenay Region

This puts them on a collision course with the province’s expanding clear cut logging activity, and growing pressure from snowmobiles, heli-skiers and other commercial recreation operators.

Mountain caribou numbers have declined rapidly in the past decade, to perhaps 1,900 animals. Other studies have placed the number as low as 1,650. Mountain caribou have been extirpated from 43% of their historic range in British Columbia. The province now lists the species as endangered.

To address the caribou’s worsening situation, the BC government has written a recovery strategy. However, the draft plan falls short of what the government’s own mountain caribou science team said would be necessary to restore herds to self-sustaining status (Update: BC releases new recovery plan, sets aside 400,000 hectares of caribou habitat). It does not adequately address the key threats to the species’ survival, mainly:

• Loss of Habitat. Old growth conifer forests continue to be logged despite scientific evidence that removing them – and the lichens the caribou eat – are the main cause of the caribou decline.

• Fragmentation of Caribou Herds. A network of roads built in recent years has separated 18 subpopulations of mountain caribou, leaving them vulnerable to predators and vehicle collisions.

• Competition from Recreation. The government continues to grant commercial recreational tenures inside the caribou’s most sensitive ranges. The caribou are now forced to share precious space with all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, heli-skiers and hikers.

Nature Canada, the Federation of BC Naturalists and other wildlife conservation groups have written to the Premier of BC, Gordon Campbell and federal Environment Minister John Baird to urge them to reject the current plan in favour of one that addresses the chief threats to the mountain caribou.

What should the BC government do?

• Provide adequate funding to achieve recovery
• Minimize disturbance to critical habitat from recreational activities like heli-skiing and snowmobiling
• Protect old growth forests so that adequate habitat and connecting corridors remain
• Keep the public informed of the caribou’s progress toward recovery
  

What can you do?

The public comment period for the government’s recovery plan is over, but you can still make your concerns known to elected officials. Urge them to adopt a more rigorous plan that will truly protect the mountain caribou.

Letters should be faxed or mailed to:

Premier Gordon Campbell
Office of the Premier
PO Box 9041, STN PROV GOVT,
Victoria, BC V8W 9E1
Fax: 250.387.0087

Roads make caribou more them vulnerable to predators and vehicle collisions. Photo: Wildsight