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6 Wednesday February 24 2016 A false conclusion i.e. concluding a sub- stantial numerical decline in caribou abun- dance did not occur when in reality it did is the more serious error because it may result in long-term harm to the resource states Adamczewski in the paper. Throughout his paper Adamczewski em- phasizes that a comprehensive understanding of the pressures on Northern caribou and the demise of the Beverly Herd in particular are challenged by gaps in data over time. Stud- ies were spotty with some periods as long as a decade where no comprehensive data was gathered on the herds status or population. His conclusions on herd impacts and behav- iour had to be drawn from diverse survey data and gathered evidence along with traditional knowledge hunter data and observations by others who frequent the caribou ranges. The previously held theory that the healthy herdhadmovedenmassenorthtojointheAhiak herdwasbasedmainlyoninformationcollected by tracking radio-collared caribou. Adamcze- wski included the tracking data from the col- lared caribou but also drew information from numerous other sources. Wilderness outfitter andwildlifebiologistAlexHallwhotraveledthe Beverly caribou summer range annually from 1971to2015wasoneofthepapersco-authors. Halls journal entries of his observations of caribou sightings over time had detailed evi- dence of the dramatic decline. From 1984 to 1996Halldescribedseeingcaribouanaverage of 19 days per summer. In the years following sightings declined to an average of two days per summer and then in recent years there werevirtuallynocaribousightingsatall-from thousands per day in the 1980s and 90s to one or two a day by 2007. In 2001 he observed a group of 20000 to 30000 animals that were mostly cows and saw only one calf per 30 to 50 cows. In the summer of 2003 he observed in a herd of 5000 or more about 90 per cent of them cows virtually no calves. Hallsinformationcoincidedwithotherbiol- ogists observations of exceptionally low num- bers of calves on the Beverly calving ground in 2007 2008 and 2009. That along with other integrateddataledtoAdamczewskisfindings. AftertheBeverlyherdsperiodofrapiddecline the small number of animals remaining in the calving grounds were in the company of still- healthynumbersofwolvesandbearsarelatively large number of very hungry predators. That was likely motivation for the remaining Bev- erly caribou to relocate and join another herd where they could find safety in numbers. The remaining small number of cow caribou prob- ablyjoinedthemuchmoreabundantAhiakherd whichofferedthebenefitofgregariouscalving wherebyallthepregnantcowstraveltogetherto aremotepartoftherangeawayfrompredators. That strategy along with safety in numbers is the main reason why barren-ground caribou herds can reach such massive sizes. Hall told the Journal that an additional reason the last Beverly caribou may have been driven from their calving grounds was helicopter activity associated with uranium exploration that was permitted there during those last few critical years. The Beverly Caribou Herds headlong Dramatic declines in many of the great Canadian caribou herds ThedisappearanceoftheBeverlyHerdisbad news indeed but the really bad news is that nearly all major Canadian migratory barren- ground caribou herds have suffered similar dramatic declines. For example the Bathurst Herd with its range north of Yellowknife was estimated at 470000 animals in 1986 and today is below 20000. It is believed further decline may well continue even without any hunting. Similarly the George River herd in northern Quebec once the largest herd in the world at around 800000 animals is now down to a meagre 10200 caribou and contin- ues to show a declining trend 2015 census. So far the Beverly Herd is the only one that has completely disappeared but in addition to what impacted the herds initially causing their mysterious and dramatic drop in num- bers all the herds occurring in the NWT are now in an extremely vulnerable state and con- tinue to face growing pressures from multiple threats. The impacts from humans appear to be the worst but the caribou have many oth- ers challenges. Industrialization and develop- ment disturb the animals and the roads they bring allow increased hunter access. Predators parasites disease and forest fires all impact the animals and some of those are magnified by the warming of the North brought on by By DON JAQUE The once massive Beverly Caribou herd that roamed the Canadian Barrenlands for hun- dreds perhaps thousands of years has van- ished from the planet and evidence recently published in the scientific journal Arctic by GNWT wildlife biologist Jan Adamczewski and his colleagues details the events that led to the herds demise in a period of less than 20 years. The herd was at peak numbers up to and during the early 1980s with a healthy pop- ulation of at least 276000 animals in 1994. In a Journal interview Adamczewski said the herd appears to have crashed in a very short period roughly 16 years starting in the late 1990s and by 2009 was but a remnant. The research paper states that most likely there was a true numerical decline in Bev- erly Herd size as death rates consistently ex- ceeded birth and recruitment rates. Today the Beverly herd is no longer identifiable as a distinct herd. Determining what actually happened to the last remaining animals in the Beverly Herd is the underlying purpose of Adamczewskis paper. It outlines in detail how it is most likely those few remaining Beverly caribou joined the neighbouring Ahiak herd 250 kilometres to the north along the Arctic Coast likely be- tween 2006 and 2010. His explanation is a refutation of a pre- viously held theory that the Beverly herd still with numbers above 100000 animals had simply relocated north and is now hap- pily ensconced as a subset of the Ahiak herd along the high Arctic Coast in the Queen Maud Gulf. Adamczewskis paper details how the previous theory was flawed. It also says reporting that a catastrophic decline in the Beverly Herds numbers did not take place could be harmful to caribou manage- ment generally. A recently published research paper shows th north to join the Ahiak Herd was actually in decimated after years with virtually no calv the major Canadian migratory caribou herd The exception is the Porcupine Herd that ran smoking gun to explain the catastrophic dr The disappearance of the Beverly Herd is bad news indeed but the really bad news is that nearly all major Canadian migratory barren-ground caribou herds have suffered similar dramatic declines. ENVIRONMENT WILDLIFE