RE:Decline of Woodland Caribous in Charlevoix : LeMarcus...thnx for the link. Since I only have high school French, ran a google translate of the article. By clicking LeMarcus provided link, one can access the snaps in the article.
The endangered Charlevoix caribou
The establishment of a maternity enclosure is planned for next spring.
A young caribou with a white and brown coat is partially covered in snow.
Charlevoix caribou are at risk and their decline is accelerating.
PHOTO: ISTOCK
Show comments
Comments
David Rmillard (access the author's page)
David Remillard
Posted on December 8, 2020
The Charlevoix woodland caribou herd has reached a new critical threshold, with only 19 animals observed this year. Faced with the hecatomb, Radio-Canada learned that the Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks (MFFP) wants to install a protective enclosure next spring.
For the record, the herds of woodland caribou in Charlevoix had disappeared around 1920, before the species was reintroduced in the early 1970s. The animal has survived there ever since on a vast territory mainly located in Parc national des Grands. -Gardens and part of the Laurentides wildlife reserve.
The reintroduced population peaked at 126 individuals in 1992. A decline then began and has accelerated dramatically in recent years.
The situation is now more critical than ever, even in the opinion of government biologists. According to the aerial inventory report carried out last March, of which Radio-Canada obtained a copy, only 19 caribou were counted during overflights covering an area of 4,000 square kilometers.
In the batch, only two fawns were identified, confirming the herd's inability to gain the upper hand. The number of births is too low to compensate for the death of adults, we can read.
In 2017, another inventory by the MFFPMinistre des Forts, de la Faune et des Parcs had made it possible to observe 56 animals. Two years later, they were down to 26. This means that in barely four years, the herd's size has dropped by 66%.
This significant decrease observed in such a short interval confirms the critical situation of the Charlevoix caribou population.
Extract from the MFFP report
By comparison, another isolated herd, that of Val-d'Or, had 18 caribou in 2016. There are only six today.
Disturbed habitat
The decline of the Charlevoix herd can be explained by at least three factors: the loss of habitat, the disturbance caused by human activity as well as the significant pressure from predators such as wolves and black bears.
According to the MFFP, the habitat of Charlevoix caribou is disturbed by more than 80%. The forestry industry, recreational tourism activities and the development of the forest road network are the main sources.
Caribou are sensitive to disturbance, says Martin Arvisais, director of wildlife management at the MFFP for the Capitale-Nationale region. The more disturbance there is, the more time he will spend in vigilance. And the time he spends in vigilance comes at the expense of feeding time. It can have repercussions, ultimately, on its reproduction.
A woodland caribou
Woodland caribou are very sensitive to disturbance.
PHOTO: GILLES MORIN
To reduce this disturbance, the ministry began this year an operation to close certain forest roads. About ten kilometers were thus closed in the Grands-Jardins park.
Logging, absent in national parks, but possible in Rserve faunique des Laurentides, has reduced the number of old forests that caribou need for their survival. It takes decades for lost habitat to regenerate.
Forest areas frequented by the herd, especially near Lac des Neiges, have been protected from cutting by the MFFPMinistre des Forts, de la Faune et des Parcs since 2006 and others were added in 2018 in certain critical sectors, underlines Martin. Arvisais. These protections, however, did not prevent the decline of the population.
Enclosure
The Department now wants to intensify its measures to protect newborns from predators, abundant in the habitat of the Charlevoix caribou. As in Val-d'Or, Quebec wants to install a maternity enclosure to protect the fawns.
We are going to tender during the winter, to properly target the area and the location, announces Martin Arvisais. What we are aiming for is a rapid start in the spring of 2021.
According to various government and caribou expert reports, the rejuvenation of forests through logging or fires, the development of logging roads and the abundance of moose populations have contributed to the increase.