For the second consecutive year, the majority of the Porcupine Caribou Herd wintered in Alaska. During the month of September 2008, those satellite collared caribou in the eastern portion of the range in the Richardson Mountains began to move south towards Yukon winter ranges, while those caribou north of the Old Crow Flats began to move west into Alaska. Between October 15th and 19th, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Alaska Department of Fish and Game flew the Alaskan and Yukon winter ranges. 60% of radio collars were located in Alaska, 22% were found in the Yukon, but 18% were not located.
By the middle of October, Porcupine Caribou began to show up along the Dempster Highway in the Chapman Lake area and quickly moved down the highway corridor as far south as the Tombstone valley. Porcupine Caribou remained in the Dempster corridor in large numbers until about the middle of November, when they moved away from the highway and seemed to settle in for the winter.
Movements of Satellite collared cow caribou during winter months, December 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009
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From December 2008 until late March 2009, the caribou in the Yukon moved very little, remaining in the southern winter ranges. In Alaska the caribou were concentrated to the west of Arctic Village.
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Late Winter Telemetry relocations
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Locations of radio and satellite collared Porcupine, Central Arctic and Hart River Caribou, March 4 to 25, 2009
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Telemetry flights were conducted on March 4 and 6 in the Yukon, March 11th and 18th to 21st in Alaska, and again in the Yukon on March 25th to relocated collared caribou of the Porcupine, Hart and Central Arctic Caribou herds. In Alaska, Porcupine Caribou were heavily mixed with Central Arctic Caribou, and in the Yukon Porcupine Caribou were mixed with Hart River Caribou.
Sixty-four Porcupine Caribou collars (78 %) were located in Alaska, while only Eighteen (22 %) were located in Yukon.
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Capture locations
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Locations of caribou captured March 2009 for deployment of radio and satellite collars
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This March we had a large number of satellite collars that needed replacing. Collars on Arnaq, Bertha, Claudia, Donner, Kate and Rocky were from 2006, and their batteries were due to fail. As well, Pingo, Cocoa, Daphey and Waldo's collars all needed to be changed out due to a programming error, though their batteries should be good for another year. There were also 2 caribou that were caught as Short Yearlings in 2005 (that is, they were just short of being 1 year old) and their VHF radio collars were due to be replaced.
Radio collars were provided by the Vuntut National Park and the USF&WS. Satellite collars were provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Government of the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Government.
PCH captures in Alaska took place between March 19 and 21, and were based at Bettles near the Dalton Highway. Captures were conducted using Quicksilver Aviation's R-44. The pilot was Mark Shelton, with Dave Payer of the USF&WS and Martin Kienzler of the Yukon Government making up the capture and handling crew. Don Carlson and Tara Wertz provided fixed-wing aerial tracking to relocated collared caribou. Arnaq, Claudia, Kate, Pingo, Daphey and Waldo were recaptured and refitted with new satellite transmitters. Cocoa's location was too far from Arctic Village to reach. We will try to recapture her in March 2010. While Donner's satellite transmitter seemed to be working fine, her VHF transmitter was not working. Although the area of her last satellite transmission was flown repeatedly, her VHF signal could not be heard. Donner has been wearing a satellite collar since this program began in September 1997, and we were really hoping to remove the collar before it went off the air and let her spend her last years collar free. Alaska Department of Fish and Game personnel will be capturing Central Arctic Caribou in mid April, and may have a chance to find Donner at that time.
One of the 2005 Short Yearlings was recaptured in Alaska and refitted with a new VHF collar. 8 VHF collars were deployed on random caribou - 7 on adult cows, 1 on an adult bull.
PCH captures in the Yukon took place between March 25th and 27th, based at the Dempster Highway Ogilvie Maintenance camp. Captures were conducted using Kluane Helicopter's A-Star. Bill Karmen was the pilot, and Dorothy Cooley, Torrie Hunter and Martin Kienzler of the Yukon Government made up the capture crew. Don Carlson and Tara Wertz provided fixed-wing aerial tracking to relocated collared caribou. Rocky and Bertha were recaptured and fitted with new satellite transmitters.
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"Marilla" when captured in 2005 as a "short-yearling."
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The second Short yearling that we needed to recapture was caught about 60 kilometers north of Dawson, and her VHF collar was replaced with a new satellite transmitter. She has been named "Marilla" (a character from the book "Anne of Green Gables") by Torrie Hunter's kids.
During the handling, biologists took seven standard body measurements and recorded body condition. Samples of blood were also taken for later testing. Data from the satellite collared cows are in the table below.
In total, 21 radio and 9 satellite collar were deployed in March 2009 on Porcupine Caribou. This increases the number of active collars on Porcupine Caribou to 125, including 15 active satellite collars.
For more information on the history of the caribou involved in this program, click here.
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Caribou data
Measurements taken from captured caribou
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When we capture caribou, we do more than fit them with collars for tracking. We also record whether or not they are still accompanied by a calf, how old they are, collect measurements on the body size and condition of the animal, and collect blood samples for contaminants analysis, DNA testing, and with the cows, to see if they are pregnant. This data is collected from all caribou to compare body size and health between herds. The image on the right shows where these measurements are taken from.
Below is a table with some of the data we collected from the caribou we collared this spring.
Note that all length measurements are in centimeters.
In the field when handling live animals, we estimate age by looking at the wear on their teeth.
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Composition count data
During composition counts, caribou are classified as Cows, Calves, Mature bulls, and Immature bulls. Comp counts are useful in obtaining an estimate of overwinter survival of calves. To obtain an accurate representation of survival for a herd, it is necessary to classify caribou in as many wintering areas as possible as there can be differences between ranges.
Due to the overlap of Porcupine Caribou with other caribou herds in both Yukon and Alaska, biologists decided that it was not possible to do a composition count this year.
Dempster Snow Stations
In 1991, YTG set up 8 stations along the Yukon portion of the Dempster Highway in Porcupine Caribou range to monitor late winter snow accumulation and density over the long term. These stations were established in treed and open tundra terrain. The Dempster Highway passes through 3 of these regions (Richardson, Eagle and Ogilvie). There are 4 stations in the Ogilvie region, and 2 each in the Eagle and Richardson regions.
Snow characteristics including depth and density are also monitored along the Dempster Highway by Energy, Mines and Resources personnel at stations close to the ones we have been monitoring. We will be obtaining data from EMR on this years snow levels to compare to our past data.
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