The Gaspésie’s caribou population has declined by nearly 80% in the last 15 years, leaving the herd at just 33 animals, according to the government’s latest census.
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In 2007 there were about 189 caribou, up from 110 in 2010. “These populations are now exclusively contained, which shows a lack of foresight in terms of habitat protection for these species,” said Martin-Hugues St-Laurent, Professor of Animal Ecology at the University of Quebec at Rimouski.
“If we want to restore the caribou population in the Gaspé, we have to stop mowing the park,” added Pascal Bergeron, spokesman for the organization Environnement Vert Plus.
In recent decades, caribou habitat has been completely destroyed. According to Pascal Bergeron, the decline is mainly due to logging. The organization has also published the dates for 2022.
A steady decline
Between 29 and 34 animals have been sighted from 2019 to 2022, indicating a relatively stable, albeit declining, population.
Conservation measures in recent years have slowed the decline.
“In the last 30 years, we have cut down about 55% of the old-growth forests around Gaspésie Park to convert them into young logging. It reduced the quality of the caribou’s habitat,” St-Laurent said.
Habitat destruction creates an imbalance between caribou and their predators. The bear and coyote have gained a lot of ground in recent years, prompting the government to implement predator management to ensure the species’ survival.
“The Parc de la Gaspésie is a protected area, but it’s no longer large enough for the population to grow. We need to expand this area,” suggested Pascal Bergeron.
This year the Ministry of the Environment decided to create maternity pens. This is how pregnant females are caught, which then give birth in these enclosures and are released a few months later with their fawns.
“It’s a good solution because the status quo is killing us relatively quickly,” St-Laurent said.
But according to the scientist, that is not enough.
More intensive measures
Implementation of the government’s forest and mountain caribou strategy has been anticipated for years and is scheduled for June 2023.
Environnement Vert Plus calls for faster and more adequate disclosure of the annual inventories and the implementation of more intensive conservation measures, in particular the complete cessation of logging in the Gaspésie-Karibu area and the establishment of a breeding and release program for populations most at risk of extinction.
“No job, no profit is worth sacrificing what nature has taken so long to develop,” they say.
– With TVA Nouvelles
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