The Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) is calling on Parks Canada to take urgent action to help the caribou population regenerate in Jasper National Park. This comes after recent news that the caribou herds in Jasper are in trouble.
“We are watching an extinction process right before our eyes,” said Carolyn Campbell, AWA conservation specialist.
“The Maligne caribou population has just been declared extirpated, but Tonquin and Brazeau aren’t far behind. That means they’re winking out.”
Parks Canada outlined on their website that caribou are both an indicator species (they reveal a lot about the health of the alpine and forest ecosystems) and an umbrella species (by protecting caribou many other species that have the same habitat needs are protected).
In Jasper National Parks’s 2019 annual report, it was stated that wolf density is low in the park, indicating that conditions for caribou survival and recovery are improving.
It goes on to say that Parks continues to monitor ecological conditions in caribou habitat for all its herds, and is investigating several options to increase the small caribou herds in the park, including exploring the feasibility of a conservation breeding program.
For more details, read this.