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Bathurst Caribou Herd
Survey Confirms Continued Decline in the Bathurst Caribou Herd - September 24, 2009
A Review of Concerns Expressed by Outfitters Between 2003 and 2007 About the Bathurst and Ahiak Herds
The Bathurst caribou herd is named for Bathurst Inlet, which is in the area that the herd traditionally calves. There are ten Aboriginal communities on or near the range of the Bathurst herd. In some years, caribou have passed just outside the Yellowknife city limits during their winter migration. There are two operating diamond mines, two proposed diamond mines and an operating gold mine on the herd’s range. In February and March of each year, a winter ice road links Yellowknife with these mines 300km north, allowing vehicles to access the more remote parts of the caribou’s winter range.
Distribution
Although cows from the Bathurst caribou herd always return to the same general area to calve, the specific area used for calving changes from year to year. The calving grounds tend to overlap in any two consecutive years, but they gradually shift over time. Inuit records show that the calving grounds used by the Bathurst caribou in the 1950s were west of Bathurst Inlet. For almost three decades, between 1960 and 1990, the Bathurst herd calved east of Bathurst Inlet. Beginning in the late 1980s, the cows gradually shifted west again and were calving back in the same areas used in the 1950s, west of the Bathurst Inlet. Since then, the cows have been calving between the Hood and Burnside Rivers west of Bathurst Inlet.
After calving, the cows and calves begin their migration south to the summer range. The route followed depends on which calving area they used. From the late 1990s until 2003, the route to the summer range generally followed the southeast side of Contwoyto Lake. As summer progresses, the cows meet up with the bulls and the herd moves across the summer range. Between July and September, the caribou tend to move south, then west and then northwest, almost in a counter clockwise direction. Fidelity to the summer range is high with the animals using the same general area year after year.
Caribou distribution during the fall migration varies from year to year. The fall rut can take place on the barrens northwest of Lac de Gras or within the boreal forest.
The location of the winter range is the most variable of the ranges. Typically the Bathurst caribou winter southeast of Great Bear Lake toward Great Slave Lake, fairly close to the communities of Wekweti, Wha Ti and Gameti. In some winters, the Bathurst caribou move farther south into areas near Yellowknife and Lutselk’e. In the winter of 1997, the Bathurst herd moved even further south and crossed into northern Saskatchewan. During winter, the range used by the Bathurst herd may overlap with neighbouring barren-ground caribou herds such as the Bluenose east and Beverly herds.
Some community elders say that when caribou pass a camp on their way south from the summer grounds, people should let them pass for a day before beginning the hunt. They believe that by letting the leaders pass by and hunting from the middle of the herd, the migration of the herd will not be disturbed. If the lead caribou are killed, the herd may change its migration route.
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Population
Since the 1970s, biologists have used various methods to estimate the number of caribou in a herd. By the early 1980s, survey methods were standardized to help biologists count caribou in the most efficient and accurate way possible. Now, most surveys use aerial photography either during or after calving.
The number of animals in a caribou herd naturally fluctuates over a 40-60 year cycle. Dogrib elders report that caribou were abundant in 1940, then scarce in the mid-1950s. In 1986, the Bathurst herd reached the highest numbers ever surveyed. By 2003, the herd had declined to about half the size reached in 1986.
| Year |
Population |
Standard Error (+/-) |
Survey Method |
| 1970 |
259,000 |
N/A |
Visual |
| 1971 |
244,000 |
N/A |
Visual |
| 1974 |
251,000 |
N/A |
Visual |
| 1977 |
160,000 |
N/A |
Visual |
| 1978 |
127,000 |
N/A |
Visual |
| 1980 |
140,000 |
N/A |
Photographic |
| 1982 |
174,000 |
N/A |
Photographic |
| 1984 |
384,000 |
65,000 |
Photographic |
| 1986 |
472,000 |
72,900 |
Photographic |
| 1990 |
352,000 |
77,800 |
Photographic |
| 1996 |
349,000 |
94,900 |
Photographic |
| 2003 |
186,000 |
40,000 |
Photographic |
| 2006 |
128,000 |
27,300 |
Photographic |
| 2009 |
32,000 |
5,300 |
Photographic |
Harvest Levels
There are few restrictions on Aboriginal people for hunting Bathurst caribou for their own use, but there are limits on the number that can be harvested by Aboriginal people for commercial sale.
Many northern communities harvest Bathurst caribou. Hunters from Kugluktuk, Umingmaktok, and Bathurst Inlet harvest Bathurst caribou in years when spring migrations or post-calving caribou are in the vicinity of the communities. Hunters from Gameti, Wekweti, Wha Ti, Rae, Edzo, Detah, Yellowknife and Lutsel K'e harvest Bathurst caribou either during community hunts in the fall or when the herd uses a winter range in the vicinity of the communities. Aboriginal hunters from other parts of the NWT may also harvest Bathurst caribou in winter when the herd is accessible by ice road. The annual Aboriginal harvest is unknown and varies significantly from year to year depending upon the distribution of the herd.
Resident hunters are allowed to harvest up to two barren-ground caribou, male only, each year. The resident harvest occurs in two peaks; one in the fall when the caribou are near the treeline and another in winter when the herd is accessible by ice road.
Non-resident hunters can harvest a maximum of two caribou per year and must obtain the services of a licensed outfitter. These outfitted hunts provide business and employment opportunities to local residents and bring approximately $3 million a year into the territorial economy.
Resident and non-resident harvest levels for the Bathurst Caribou
| Year |
Resident |
Non-resident |
| 1982 |
250 |
2 |
| 1983 |
389 |
14 |
| 1984 |
924 |
24 |
| 1985 |
348 |
57 |
| 1986 |
432 |
67 |
| 1987 |
1065 |
165 |
| 1988 |
1905 |
291 |
| 1989 |
1437 |
349 |
| 1990 |
1547 |
227 |
| 1991 |
2004 |
180 |
| 1992 |
1469 |
343 |
| 1993 |
2143 |
517 |
| 1994 |
1238 |
409 |
| 1995 |
1668 |
574 |
| 1996 |
1093 |
684 |
| 1997 |
1296 |
696 |
| 1998 |
925 |
644 |
| 1999 |
1261 |
784 |
| 2000 |
998 |
911 |
| 2001 |
527 |
921 |
| 2002 |
1050 |
1150 |
Co-Management
In the spring of 2000, federal, territorial and Aboriginal governments, First Nations, Inuit organizations, Institutions of Public Government and communities on or adjacent to the range of the Bathurst caribou herd agreed to work cooperatively to prepare a management plan for this caribou herd. This agreement lead to the creation of the Bathurst Caribou Management Planning Committee (BCMPC).
BCMPC members have worked together to prepare a plan on behalf of the people who share and rely on the Bathurst barren-ground caribou herd. Read the Bathurst Caribou Management Plan.
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The management plan focusses on cooperation, healthy caribou and healthy caribou numbers, looking after caribou habitat and managing harvesting. The purpose of the plan is to establish a framework for long-term conservation of the Bathurst caribou herd and the land that the herd uses.
Over centuries, northern peoples have seen times of caribou abundance and scarcity. The plan attempts to ensure people continue to respect the caribou and to ensure that caribou will return after times of scarcity. This will be achieved, not by managing caribou but instead by managing human activities that affect caribou and their habitat. |
For more information, or to provide your comments on the plan, contact:
Environment and Natural Resources
Government of the Northwest Territories
600, 5102-50th Ave
Yellowknife, NT X1A 3S8
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