Latest news with #caribou
CBC
2 days ago
- General
- CBC
Caribou in Coral Harbour, Nunavut, tests positive for rabies
Nunavut's health department says a caribou in Coral Harbour tested positive for rabies after it was seen attacking heavy equipment. In a public health advisory Tuesday, the department says harvesters who suspect an animal of having rabies should avoid handling the carcass. If they have already harvested the meat, they should dispose of it instead of eating it or feeding it to dogs. It says if you've been bitted or scratched by an infected animal, to go to your local health centre as soon as possible and report the incident. Dogs and other domestic animals that spend time tied up outdoors should be monitored for a change in behaviour. Signs of rabies include change of behaviour, aggression, staggering, frothing at the mouth, choking or making strange noises. Wild animals infected with rabies may also appear friendly and approach humans without fear. Nunavut's chief public health officer Dr. Ekua Agyemang said that this is the first confirmed case of rabies in caribou in Nunavut. She suspects another animal with rabies, possibly a fox or dog, bit the caribou to spread the disease. Agyemang said that she believes this to be an isolated event and that officials haven't heard any other reports of caribou suspected of having rabies. "People should be calm — it doesn't mean that going forward you can't eat caribou," she said, adding hunters should just observe an animal before killing it and report if they notice any strange behaviour.
CBC
3 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Shrubs are taking over the Arctic. Will caribou suffer?
As the Arctic continues to warm faster than anywhere else on Earth, the temperature shift is driving changes in plant life, which can have huge effects on ecosystems — including important wildlife like caribou. Our science communicator Darius Mahdavi met with tundra researchers to learn more.
CBC
4 days ago
- General
- CBC
Latest data shows 'significant increase' in Beverly caribou herd
This week, northerners got some rare good news about caribou. The most recent data on the Beverly herd has added 50,000 animals since it was last measured, a "statistically significant increase" in its population. According to the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board, a population survey conducted in 2023 and published earlier this year estimated there are now 153,000 animals in the Beverly herd — up from 103,000 animals in 2017, just five years earlier. In an announcement earlier this week, the board called it a "statistically significant increase" in population. Earl Evans, the chair of the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board, said it was "really good information." The Beverly herd had previously been in decline since the 90s. "It's actually quite surprising to see a herd come back that quick, in that short a period of time," he told CBC. The population survey of the Beverly herd was done by biologists with the Nunavut government and was presented to the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board at a meeting earlier this month. Evans said it's especially encouraging to the population increase because they know the herd, whose habitat includes the Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road, is commonly hunted from in Northwest Territories. Evans said the increasing population of the herd is likely due to a combination of factors, including natural cycling in populations and mixing with other herds. But he thinks the biggest factor may be the herd's habitat, which he says provides "good forage, good range for them, and not too much disturbance." "They seem to be wintering further and further away from any development," Evans said. "If you look at the collaring data there, a lot of their activities are away from any major development and stuff, so I think that kind of provides some protection for them." Qamanirjuaq herd doing 'pretty good' despite decline The Qamanirjuaq caribou herd, Evans said, is also doing "pretty good", despite still being in decline. The most recent survey of the herd, in 2022, estimated there were 253,000 animals in the herd, down from 288,000 animals in 2017. The management board describes it as a pattern of "slow decline". But Evans said there are many hopeful signs. The Qamanirjuaq caribou are generally healthy, Evans said, and the herd still has a good pregnancy and calving rate. Overall, he says he is hopeful about the future of both herds, but emphasized there is still a lot of work to do, especially to ensure that the habitats of both herds are protected from development as much as possible.
CBC
24-05-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Habitat for endangered caribou threatened by eastern Manitoba wildfire
A wildfire around Nopiming Provincial Park has destroyed much of the habitat for a woodland caribou herd during the season in which females are giving birth. Experts are worried about the long-term effect on boreal woodland caribou, classified as threatened under Manitoba's Endangered Species Act.
CBC
18-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Moose aren't a native Newfoundland species — but they were brought here to save one
Moose were imported to the island in 1904 to support a species in decline Forest denizen, highway hazard, hunters' trophy, a freezer full of meat — the moose plays many roles in Newfoundland. With an estimated 125,000 animals, about one for every four human residents, the island is home to the most concentrated population of moose in North America. Though today they seem to be everywhere, moose haven't always been here. Legend has it they were introduced in 1904 to serve as a food animal in a place with few other local sources of meat. The truth is a bit more complicated. Moose were brought to Newfoundland to protect one of the island's native mammals: the caribou. At the turn of the 20th century, there were serious concerns that caribou populations were in decline. The Newfoundland Railway had opened up the island's interior, and the tracks crossed seasonal caribou migration routes. Hunters, many of them lured from abroad by the near-guarantee of bagging a buck, set up camps along the railroad and shot into the herds as they passed, killing hundreds of animals. If caribou numbers dwindled, it would deprive Newfoundlanders of one of their main sources of winter fare. According to journalist P. T. McGrath, caribou shared "with the all-prevailing codfish the duty of keeping alive the coast folk who are shut off from the outer world by the unpenetrable [sic] ice barrier which then covers the North Atlantic." It wasn't just the inhabitants of the outports who relied on venison over the winter. Some of the caribou hunted in the island's interior were sold and shipped to St. John's, providing rural hunters with off-season income and residents of the capital with cheap local meat. Caribou could be purchased in the city for as little as two or three cents a pound — around one sixth the cost of beef, which was heavily tariffed. To protect this natural resource, the Newfoundland government passed the Act for the Preservation of Deer in the spring of 1902. The act increased the cost of hunting licenses for foreign sportsmen and lowered the number of caribou they could harvest. It shortened the hunting season and banned killing caribou with dogs or while the animals were fording water. To support these new hunting restrictions, the government agreed on one last measure. They would import a breeding stock of moose from the Canadian mainland. The idea seems to have been that introducing a second species of deer would lighten the hunting pressure on caribou. Moose were chosen because their habits and habitat are distinctly different from those of caribou, making it unlikely the two would compete for food. Plus, adding another large game animal would increase the island's appeal as a "sportsman's paradise," a reputation that attracted valuable tourist dollars to Newfoundland's small economy. An earlier attempt to introduce moose had been made in 1875 at the request of a group of St. John's sportsmen, but the two animals imported at that time had apparently failed to breed. In 1903, to increase the odds of success, the government asked the province of New Brunswick for seven moose. The animals, each weighing in between 270 and 550 kilograms, would have to be brought out of the New Brunswick wilderness alive. In a time before tranquillizers, the task would require a good deal of ingenuity and a keen understanding of moose behaviour. Newfoundland tapped John Connell from Bartibog, N.B. for the job. Already a respected outdoorsman, Connell would become famous in the Miramichi Valley not just for hunting moose, but for taming them. For a reward of $50 per moose, the equivalent of a few thousand dollars today, Connell and a group of neighbours snowshoed into the woods in March 1904. Moose, he reasoned, would be easiest to trap in winter, when they had lost weight from scarce grazing and would flounder in the deep snow. When the men came upon a moose, they would run it down until it was exhausted, then fence it in so it could be lassoed and brought out by horse-drawn sled. Connell had a close call during the hunt when a big bull moose rushed him, knocking him over. The moose reared up and was lassoed by one of his companions just before its hoof came down on his head. Connell made it out alive but was hospitalized for 10 days with his injuries. Once the seven moose ordered by the Newfoundland government had been successfully captured, they were loaded onto a train to North Sydney, but not all of them survived the trip. A cow and a bull died on the way from fright or — by another account — indigestion, and a second cow died giving birth to a calf as the animals waited at North Sydney to cross the Cabot Strait. The remaining four moose, two bulls and two cows, were ferried to Newfoundland, where another train took them inland. The Western Star reported that "at all the stopping points crowds gathered around the car and viewed with wonder the strange animals." The moose were released on a government deer preserve near Howley where they would be protected from hunters for several years until the species had a chance to establish itself. This time, on an island with few natural predators and no deadly parasites, the moose flourished. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to safeguard the caribou. Of the estimated 150,000 to 200,000 that roamed the island in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as few as 2,000 remained by the 1930s. Today, Newfoundland's caribou number roughly 30,000, and some hunters are worried it's moose that are on the decline. But don't expect an influx of bison to bolster them. Provincial regulations now prohibit the release of imported wildlife into the Newfoundland ecosystem, leaving this conservation method firmly in the past.
