The Disappearing Caribou
From This…………………………………………………………………………………………
To This
Hi Friends,
I read in our local paper, The Evening Telegram, an article by Derek Montague which reports on the decline in numbers of the Red Wine Mountain caribou herd in Labrador. Over the last twenty five years, the herd has seen a ninety seven percent decline. In 2013, the Red Wine Mountain herd was estimated at seventy five to one hundred animals. The latest numbers compiled by the provincial government in the fall of 2014 show the herd at the staggeringly low number of approximately twenty animals. A recovery plan has been in place since 2002 under the Endangered Species Act and Wildlife Act, but yet the numbers continue to dwindle. When asked why, our Environment and Conservation minister, Dan Crummell tells us “We have ecological conditions that impact the population, we have range deterioration, and illegal hunting, but mortality is the biggest issue. The young are not surviving as well as they should.”
Now Nalcor, the developer of the Muskrat Falls Hydro Electric mega project, plans to construct part of its transmission line in the Red Wine region. What restrictions have been put in place to be sure that any activity has minimal impact or disturbance to the remaining herd? According to Crummell, a few weeks ago, Nalcor was given stricter rules for activity in the area. These rules include “avoiding and limiting project activities during sensitive times for the animals” and, “activities are not permitted within important and highly used calving areas. Work must also cease if a Red Wine Caribou is spotted within four kilometers of the work site until the caribou no longer occupy the area. They actually have to drop their tools and walk away.”
Will it be enough to turn the near vanquished herd around? The government has certainly recognized that change needs to be made to their recovery plan, but it may be too little too late.
In my novel, The Lions Den, due for publication in April, environmentalist Brad Jamieson explains to photojournalist Della Rawlins the difficulties that the George River caribou herd have faced. The herd, once numbering 384,000 has now been reduced to around 27,000 animals. He tells the story of how careless conservation efforts resulted in the death of over 10,000 of these animals.
Here is an excerpt from Chapter 9 of The Lions Den:
Several hours went by from the time Brad had gotten through to his buddy, Ted, and in that time many more caribou had joined the herd, moving northward, and inland from the coastal plain. Della was amazed by the sheer number of animals and the force of the instinct that drove them to travel the long journey to take them into the cover of the forest to wait out the long winter months. Watching the little calves running to keep up with their elders, she wondered how many of them would survive the ravages of the wolves, the sparser food, and the cold harsh weather.
“How far do they have to travel?” Della asked Brad, who was mulling over some maps and charts.
“Depends on where they live,” Brad answered, “This herd will travel over 1,200 miles annually.
Some individual animals have been known to travel as much as 3,700 miles in a single year.
These guys are part of the George River herd which spreads across the northern part of Eastern Canada from Quebec to Labrador.”
“How many animals are there altogether in the George River herd?”
“There used to be around 384,000 at the turn of the millennium, but the numbers have shrunk to a little over 27,000 in recent years.”
“Wow, that’s a huge decrease,” Della said, “Besides the habitat destruction and the overhunting and the increase in predation, and disease, is there anything else that has caused the decline?” Della asked.
“Well, as a matter of fact, there is. Did you hear in the news a few years ago where there were a huge number or Caribou drowned while crossing a river in northern Quebec?”
“Yeah, I think I remember something about that. There were tons of dead animals found floating down the river.” Della said, “Why would that happen? I thought that Caribou could swim.”
“They can,” said Brad, “Around six miles at a stretch. The herd generally will lose a few of the weaker or older animals every year on its annual migration, but what happened in Quebec was a man made tragedy.”
“Really?” Della’s nose perked up, scenting the rotten stench of politics lurking behind the story.
“Yeah, what happened was that Hydro Quebec built a reservoir on the headwaters of the Caniapiscau River. The Caribou always followed a migration route which had them cross the Caniapiscau about seventy miles upstream, just above the Limestone Falls. Now the Caribou had gotten used to the low water flow in the Caniaapiscau while the reservoir was being filled. The waters of the upper Caniapiscau River, which flow north, were diverted into the La Grande River of the James Bay watershed to the west. That September there were exceptionally heavy rains, and the reservoir had filled up completely. A decision was made to partially release the headwaters back into the Caniapiscau because the power stations on the La Grande River couldn’t yet turbine the full water flow. According to the power company, any major addition of water to the La Grande River would have been diverted around the power stations for months, even years, and would have seriously damaged the floodgates which were designed for temporary use during exceptional climatic events.”
“So the Caribou didn’t realise that the Caniapiscau was too wide and too strong for them to get across.” Della said, sadly.
“Exactly the conclusion the biologists and wildlife officers came to, along with the local residents whose people were familiar with the river and the migration route of the animals for years and had opposed the development.”
“Yet another example of the white man’s arrogance in thinking that they can just willy nilly interfere with the natural environment for their own selfish monetary gain while making changes that can have tragically detrimental repercussions.”
“I have to agree,” said Brad, “The government, the power company and even the wildlife authorities were jointly responsible for the death of over 10,000 animals.”
How important it is for our government to continue to invest in research and to watchdog developments to ensure that herds like the Red Wine Mountain and the George River are given every chance to recover. To that end, Minister Crummell has committed to “identifying seasonal ranges that are extremely important to these particular herds and we’ll continue to monitor survival and recruitment and we’ll be using this information to ensure that any activity or developments involve minimal disturbance to the remaining animals.” Let’s hope that everyone will do their part to be proactive in the recovery plan.
Moo!
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