The Porcupine Caribou Management Board works to manage the Porcupine Caribou Herd, one of the largest herds of migratory caribou on the continent, and protect and maintain its habitat in Canada. The herd faces numerous threats, including climate change and increasing human activity within its range and on its calving grounds.
 New & noteworthy
We have just received the 2008 Porcupine Caribou Herd calving survey report from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. You can read the report here.
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The next PCMB meeting will be held in Mayo, Yukon from September 4 to 6, 2008. For more information please contact the PCMB's Secretariat.
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The 21st edition of the PCMB Annual Report is now available for download. It contains a wealth of information on the Board, its activities, and the state of the herd. You can download your copy from our Reference desk.
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The Draft North Yukon Land Use Plan review period has concluded. All comments, including the PCMB's comments, can be viewed on the North Yukon Planning Commission website. The site will also have links to the draft plan.
Go to the Draft North Yukon Land Use Plan comments
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This spring, researchers made yet another admirable attempt to obtain a caribou census. As it turns out, the caribou herd didn't cooperate. Instead of gathering on the coastal plain like they usually do – which creates an excellent photo opportunity, allowing the herd to be counted from the pictures – the caribou gathered in the mountains, which cast shadows over large numbers of caribou. The photos were thus not properly exposed, and the caribou could not be counted.
This memo from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game provides a detailed explanation of why the caribou could not be counted.
The good news is that this photocensus is really a luxury. Most other species or other caribou herds never get counted in this manner. Although the photocensus is the best method of counting the herd, researchers are able to estimate the herd's population using other methods. At the current time, it is estimated that the herd's population is between 110,000 and 112,000.
For more information about the latest attempt at a photocensus and the herd's population, read the October 2007 edition of Caribou Update.
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The PCMB oversees a satellite collar project in cooperation with other organizations. The collars provide information about the location of the herd and help monitor the migration patterns. Publication of locations used to be updated regularly, with a two-week delay. On February 20, 2007, the PCMB directed that publication of the exact locations be discontinued. Click here to view the letter. This direction was made pursuant to the PCMB's resolution that recognized the immediate need for conservation of the herd. Specifically, the PCMB notes that hunters used the Web site to assist them in determining when where to hunt.
The Satellite Collar Project Web site still provides information about the project. Maps with seasonal movements of the caribou herd continue to be available, as well as maps showing movements of individual caribou for all years of this study.
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We have just updated our Population page to include more recent herd information and increased details on census methods and population fluctuations.
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The Porcupine Caribou Management Board is concerned about the rate of the herd's decline. However, fear that the population might have dropped by over 60 percent in the last five years is unfounded. Read more in this news release.
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There are many instances where the PCMB prefers to react to concerns with education as opposed to regulation. In the fall of 2005, the Board started working with First Nation and Territorial Governments to prepare a comprehensive education program for Yukon and NWT caribou hunters. The PCMB is leading the development of this package to ensure that those hunting issues which the PCMB recommended further education are included in education programs delivered to PCH users. The program will:
- include traditional knowledge
- teach best practices to ensure hunter safety and reduce meat wastage
- clarify legal requirements for licensed hunters, resident hunters and non-resident hunters
- have many components suitable for all age groups
- be shared with First Nations and other groups who might deliver hunter education relating to the Porcupine Caribou herd so that these groups can use all or part of this curriculum to suit their education needs.
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This report, written by D.E. Russell and P. McNeil of Environment Canada, summarizes the most recent research on the status of the herd, the ecological factors affecting its productivity during the calving and immediate post-calving periods, and how climate change and potential hydrocarbon development may affect the herd. This 2nd edition was published in March 2005. Click here to download a copy.
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These summaries, compiled by the U.S. Government, give an in-depth study of wildlife and their habitats in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, including a large section on the Porcupine Caribou. You can look at the summaries online at www.absc.usgs.gov/1002, or you can download a PDF copy at alaska.usgs.gov/BSR-2002/usgs-brd-bsr-2002-001.html.
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If you have spotted unusual animals or animal activity in the range of the Porcupine Caribou Herd, please report your sighting at this link: yukon.taiga.net/unusualsightings.
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