Athabasca Caribou Management Options

A comprehensive report of management options for caribou in northeast Alberta, by Athabasca Landscape Team scientists, for the Alberta Caribou Committee.

“Boreal caribou will not persist for more than two to four decades without immediate and aggressive management intervention” – Athabasca Caribou Landscape Management Options Report by Athabasca Landscape Team scientists, for the Alberta Caribou Committee.

“The ALT [Athabasca Landscape Team scientists] determined that there is insufficient functional habitat to maintain and increase current caribou distribution and population growth rates within the Athabasca Landscape area. Boreal caribou will not persist for more than two to four decades without immediate and aggressive management intervention. … Current extrapolated caribou abundance in the landscape area (ca. 900 animals) is well below the number that would be expected in the absence of industrial land-use. Predation appears to be the immediate cause of recent declines, and available information indicates that this is directly or indirectly linked to land-use features, including roads, harvest blocks, leases, pipelines and power lines, seismic lines, and agricultural/residential clearings that have led to an increase in moose and deer populations within and around caribou ranges.”