Yellowknife, NWT – Territorial leaders and wildlife management authorities have met to discuss the continued decline of the Bluenose-East and Bathurst barren ground caribou herds.
A press release issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources says Aboriginal and G.N.W.T leaders met with wildlife authorities in Yellowknife last Friday after receiving results from reconnaissance surveys of the calving grounds for both herds.
The department says those surveys are undertaken once a year to determine trends in herd size.
Actual population surveys are done every three years.
Since 1986, surveys indicate that the Bathurst herd is in sharp decline, seeing their numbers dwindle from 470,000 to an estimated 35,000 now.
Meanwhile, there are an estimated 68,000 Bluenose-East caribou now, down from 100,000 counted in a 2010 survey.
Population surveys for both herds are planned for next summer.
CJCD Moose FM News
