Caribou important to Canadians: report
Canadians said they are willing to make sacrifices to recover the caribou population in our National Parks, according to a new Parks Canada report.
The report titled Conservation Strategy for Southern Mountain Caribou: What we Heard. In November 2011, a draft Conservation Strategy was released and the Canadian public was asked to provide comments. In the report, 97 per cent of respondents felt that caribou conservation was important.
Southern mountain woodland caribou are found in Banff, Jasper, Glacier and Mount Revelstoke National Parks, as well as adjacent provincial lands. Under Canada's Species at Risk Act, they are listed as threatened.
"We think of the national parks being the places where wildlife are going to be safest, but it's not always the case," said Nigel Douglas, conservation specialist with the Alberta Wildlife Association. "Banff National Park lost its few remaining caribou back in 2009, and caribou in Jasper National Park are struggling as well, so it's not quite a simple picture if you draw an area on a map and call the area protected it doesn't necessarily mean the animals are automatically safe, you still need to monitor them closely, and sometimes you need to make changes to how you're managing the landscape to give them a better chance of surviving."
More than 90 per cent of respondents supported seasonal trail closures and relocation of trails or campsites to limit recreational impacts in important caribou habitat and nearly 85 per cent of respondents support seasonal closure of secondary roads.
"It's easy to ask people fairly general questions on 'do you think it's important to keep caribou on the landscape?' and its easy for people to say yes," said Douglas.
"But this study involved a lot more questions around asking people 'are you prepared to make sacrifices yourself to see these animals stay on the landscape' and that's kind of more interesting once you start asking those tougher questions on whether people are actually prepared to take a hit personally, to see these animals stay on the landscape."
The threats to the caribou population are varied. Part of the problem is road access. It's not just the vehicles on the road, said Douglas, but once the roads are there, they allow much easier access for other animals, like deer, and with them come predators, particularly wolves.
Douglas said there is little being done to address the access issue.
"That's kind of what's encouraging about this report. If people are saying 'we don't mind restrictions on access for us if it's going to protect caribou, that's a really positive stamp."
"We hope that Parks Canada will remember these findings when it decides whether or not to allow future developments, such as Jasper's planned expansion of the Marmot Basin ski hill into caribou range," said Douglas. "Ecological integrity remains the priority of Canadians, even if that means restricting development."