Environmental Issues in Northern Ontario
Pukaskwa
National Park provides refuge to 'threatened' species
- submitted by Debbie Sauve
Photo at Right: Woodland Caribou in Pukaskwa
National Park
Credit: Keith Wade, Parks Canada
Forest-dwelling woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus) populations have
been declining across North America since the 1800's and the reasons for
these changes have been controversial. For an animal the once occupied
all of Ontario west of Algonquin Park, it is now defined as “threatened
nationally”.
The range of Woodland Caribou in northern
Ontario has receded dramatically over the past century with the
encroachment of human development, and habitat disturbance and
alteration.
Today, small remnant populations can be found along the north shore of
Lake Superior, including right in Pukaskwa National Park. In the park,
there are now just a handful of caribou from a population of literally
dozens 500 years ago, and the few remaining caribou are not only
considered biologically significant, but culturally significant as well.
The caribou is particularly significant to the aboriginal people of the
area because they were historically dependent on the large, hoofed
animal. Caribou would be used for anything from clothes, to bedding to
food.
“From the time of my ancestors, the caribou has been very important to
our way of life,” said Collette Goodchild of the Pic River Band. “We
didn’t hunt the moose until the 1940’s when the caribou was not as
plentiful anymore. From a spiritual aspect, I think it is still
important to share the stories of the caribou during teachings and
sharing circles with our youth.”
The population of about 9 to 30 caribou in Pukaskwa today exists on the
extreme southern edge of their range. Larger herds can be found west of
Pukaskwa on the Slate Islands and south of Wawa.
Park officials suggest that the park animals may have been cut off from
connected populations when industry, transportation routes and so on,
blocked their movement patterns.
“I do not think that our small population of caribou would be surviving
if they weren’t breeding with the Slate Island caribou,” said Pukaskwa
Heritage Outreach and Extension Coordinator Robin Heron. “However, the
combined effect of the railway, highway and forestry has definitely had
an effect on their ability to travel easily between the two.”
These types of habitat alterations and forest management practices have
created a fragmented and diverse forest landscape, which has not
favoured their continuous existence. Woodland caribou require quite
large areas of mature, coniferous forest.
Changes in habitat composition that increase the suitability of habitat
for moose and deer also negatively affect caribou by increasing the
number of potential predators within their range.
Although caribou are cunning, fast and extremely adaptive, wolves pose
an undeniable threat to their survival. Due to this threat, the Pukaskwa
caribou have developed unique ways of using the terrain and coastline to
protect themselves against the wolves.
One way that they do this is by moving along the roughest of coastal
rock, where the shorter-legged wolves are incapable of running with
them. In the winter, they can use their long legs as an advantage as
well for running through the deep snow. Their hooves also spread in such
a way as to form a snowshoe.
Another way that the caribou have learned to exploit the Pukaskwa
terrain for their survival is by swimming to nearby islands, where
wolves cannot follow. The caribou use the islands during mating season
and while giving birth to their young. This allows the calves to get a
“head start” before they return to the predator-ridden main land for
foraging and grazing.
“Our unpopulated islands are a critical corner stone to the survival of
the woodland caribou here,” said Heron. “It is really significant
because the animals go to them like clockwork year after year.”
As the boreal forest is altered, the presence of a park like Pukaskwa,
with continuous forests, coastlines and unpopulated islands, becomes
increasingly vital to the ongoing sustainability of woodland caribou
population.
The Otter Cove area of Pukaskwa is the most critical environment for the
secretive caribou. Their presence indicates that industrial development
hasn’t clear-cut their fragile habitat yet.
“Otter Cove is the largest off-shore island that we have, and is
undoubtedly the most significant habitat for the caribou,” Heron
continued. “Some caribou actually stay on this island all year, and that
is why we have designated the cove with the highest level of protection
for Pukaskwa.”
Along with protecting Otter Cove, some other measures that are being
taken to protect the woodland caribou in Pukaskwa is work with the
Caribou Recovery Team to “harmonize their efforts with provincial
efforts.” The park also surveys the animals, radio collars them and
works with Species at Risk to access information to help manage them
better.
“The caribou is important to every person that lives on the North
Shore,” said Goodchild. “He is part of our heritage and he is a part of
the balance of life. We are all one.”
How can you help?
Forest-dwelling woodland caribou have been assigned threatened status by
the national Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).
To help with the efforts to keep the animal off the endangered list you
can:
- Report sightings of a woodland caribou
within the park to the Park Office (807) 229-0801.
- Report sightings of a woodland caribou
outside of the park to the local MNR Offices in Terrace Bay (807)
825-3205 or Wawa (705) 856-2396.
- When travelling to Otter Cove in
Pukaskwa National Park, stay within the areas that have already been
disturbed by humans and do not venture into vital caribou habitat.
Park officials are not sure of the effect human presence has on the
animals and warn that our company (even by hiking, canoeing or
kayaking) may drive them off the island.
For more information about the status of the
woodland caribou and other species at risk in Ontario, visit Ontario’s
Species at Risk Web site at
http://www.rom.on.ca/ontario/risk.php.
This story was originally published
in the Marathon Mercury
