Time for Nature

Helping caribou survive

November 22, 2004

Mount Revelstoke National Park of Canada

Tree lichen Bryoria - an important food source for caribou in the winter
© Parks Canada / Micheal Morris

After 9,000 years of peaceful existence, the once-thriving population of mountain caribou that relies on the old-growth forest in and around Mount Revelstoke National Park of Canada is in serious decline. Park staff are working with researchers and others interested in the long-term survival of the caribou in the face of habitat loss and human activities.

Dependent on old-growth

Well-adapted to their environment, the mountain caribou spend late fall and early winter at lower elevations. There, the old-growth inland forest canopy reduces snowfall, allowing the caribou to feed on evergreen shrubs. When the snow deepens, their widely spread hooves act as snowshoes as they migrate to higher areas, where they survive the winter eating tree lichens. These lichens are most often found in a mature forest where branches or entire rotting trees have blown down.

The old-growth forests on which the caribou depend, however, are being cut down due to forestry activity and the creation of hydro-electric reservoirs. These large forests are being broken up into isolated patches rather than the continuous habitat required by caribou and many other species. Human recreation, particularly mechanized activities such as snowmobiling, has also disrupted the remaining mature habitat. Younger reforested areas are more open, increasing the caribou’s vulnerability to predators such as cougars.

Caribou with radio-collar looking for refuge in the winter
© Parks Canada / Mas Matsushita

A 2002 census of the southern caribou population, which includes those found in Mount Revelstoke National Park of Canada and Glacier National Park of Canada , showed its numbers had declined to just 25 from 113 in 1997. The 2004 winter census showed that the caribou’s population continues to decline at a rate of 10% per year. The caribou’s tenuous existence is reflected by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), which has designated this population as threatened .

Learning how to help

Parks Canada staff have been involved in research and monitoring projects with the provincial government since 1992. In addition to the regular censuses, information from radio-collared caribou have helped reveal that, for example, accidents such as avalanches are a leading cause of death, a phenomenon that has yet to be explained.

Given the number of other species that depend on the old-growth forest of the montane cordillera ecozone , Parks Canada’s support for efforts that will teach us more about the workings of this ecosystem and its threatened inhabitants such as the mountain caribou is crucial. The caribou cannot be confined within the borders of the national parks, but national parks personnel can work with the public and the communities adjacent to the park to ensure the caribou survives no matter where it roams.

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