Caribou

Caribou Across the Far North, populations of caribou are in steep decline.

Thirty-four of the 43 major herds that scientists have studied worldwide in the last decade are in decline, with caribou numbers plunging 57 percent from their historical peaks. 

Some populations have fallen precipitously: 

The Bathurst herd in Canada's central Arctic has plummeted from a peak of 472,000 in 1986 to 32,000 today — a drop of 93 percent.

According to scientists, the causes of the global caribou decline are straightforward:  rapidly rising Arctic temperatures are throwing caribou out of sync with the environment in which they evolved; oil and gas development, mining, logging, and hydropower projects in the Far North are impinging on the caribou's range; and, though not a major factor, hunting is further depleting already beleaguered caribou populations.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

• Support sustainable and renewable energy sources.

• Help restore Caribou habitats and to keep them out of reach of all industrial activities over a sufficiently large area.

• Support groups making conservation efforts.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Visit

• WWF

• Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

• The Mountain Caribou Project

• The Wild Forest Reindeer Project

• Renewable Reindeer