Newfoundland and Labrador is home to four of 12 nationally-significant caribou populations in Canada. These include:

• Newfoundland Caribou – Island population (population 30,580 in 2019);
• George River Caribou Herd – part of the Eastern Migratory Caribou unit (population 8,100 in 2020);
• Torngat Mountains Caribou (population 1,326 in 2017); and
• Boreal Caribou populations of southern Labrador (combined population of fewer than 5,000 caribou across five herds).

Labrador’s Boreal Caribou – specifically the Lac Joseph, Red Wine Mountains and Mealy Mountain herds – are considered ‘threatened’ and have been protected under the Newfoundland and Labrador Endangered Species Act since July 2002. All Boreal Caribou have been listed as ‘threatened’ under the federal Species at Risk Act since June 2003.

Given their scattered distribution across the forested landscape of southern Labrador, it is difficult to conduct annual surveys to estimate population numbers for Boreal Caribou herds. As part of the four-year Boreal Caribou Conservation Agreement with Environment and Climate Change Canada, the province has been working to monitor the trends in each of these three listed herds. Adult survival and calf recruitment rates to date indicate that these populations are declining.

Unlike the situation in almost all other areas of Canada, Boreal Caribou habitat in Labrador is effectively pristine, and the combined level of human disturbance across the range of all three herds is only two per cent. The decline and continued low numbers of these herds is driven by natural threats, combined with unsustainable and unsanctioned harvesting.

The Boreal Caribou Conservation Agreement, finalized in 2019, helps Newfoundland and Labrador meet requirements to protect the animals and their habitat under the federal Act.

The 2019 Conservation Agreement has three focal areas:

1. Knowledge Improvement;
2. Indigenous Engagement and Caribou Guardianship; and
3. Protection of Habitat.

Work conducted under these three areas will lead to:

• Increased biological information and a better understanding of the status of Boreal Caribou populations in Labrador;
• A collection of baseline information on changing moose and wolf populations in southern Labrador that will inform future studies on how these species may impact Boreal Caribou;
• A Recovery and Management Team with Indigenous governments, organizations and other management agencies to develop a long-term management plan for Boreal Caribou;
• Indigenous Guardian Programs developed with Indigenous governments and organizations to further protect the listed herds and promote stewardship;
• Increased stewardship workshops, cultural exchange and information sharing sessions; and
• Range plans to ensure a minimum 65 per cent of Boreal Caribou habitat remains intact and protected in Labrador.

George River Caribou Update

The latest population survey of the George River Caribou Herd (GRCH) was conducted in July 2020 by the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture (FFA), in partnership with the Quebec Ministry of Wildlife, Forests and Parks. The findings estimate the population to be 8,100 animals. This is an increase of 47 per cent since the previous survey in 2018, when the population reached a record low of 5,500. This is the first recorded increase in the population in over 25 years.

While the July 2020 results are certainly encouraging, there is need for caution and recognition that most of the increase is due to an exceptionally strong group of calves born just five weeks prior to the survey. Most of these calves will need to survive through the winter and into June 2021 to maintain the gains of 2020.

Recruitment in migratory caribou – or more simply, the number of new calves added annually to the population – varies from year to year. There is no guarantee high calf production will continue again the following year. Any true indication of recovery will require several years of consistent improvement in the survival levels of calves and adults.

In 2013, the department issued a hunting ban on the George River Caribou Herd in Labrador for conservation purposes, as the population had drastically declined from greater than 750,000 caribou in the early 1990s to just 27,600 animals in 2012.  Despite the ban, some harvesting has continued each year through to the present, contributing to the further decline of the population.

The 2020 population estimate of 8,100 caribou is still less than one per cent the herd’s historic abundance. Research and monitoring of the George River Herd is extensive and the population estimates are highly accurate. The positive findings of 2020 should be viewed as an opportunity to fully support the hunting ban to allow the herd to recover. Maintaining the hunting ban, along with careful stewardship, is essential at this critical point in the caribou population cycle. If adult survival remains high and environmental conditions continue to favour calf production, the herd will have its first opportunity to recover from these historic lows.