New Caribou Crisis – Then and Now

The 13th North American Caribou Workshop Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 25–28 October, 2010 New caribou crisis – then and now Robert A. Ruttan Box 42, Rural Route 2, Tawatinaw, Alberta, Canada T0G 2E0 ([email protected]). Abstract: The reported decline of the Bathurst herd has caused considerable concern and has raised rumours of a “crisis” in which there is a possibility of extinction. This paper reflects on relevant lessons learned from the officially declared “crisis” of population decline in 1955/56 and a second crisis of overpopulation identified by the author a decade later. Key words: Barren ground caribou; Bathurst caribou herd; Canada; crisis, management history; population decline; resource management; traditional knowledge. Rangifer, Special Issue No. 20: 85–102 Introduction My objective in this paper is to explain how the The recently estimated declines in the Bathurst herd lessons I learned during the 1950s and 1960s might and other migratory caribou has become a matter of be relevant to the management of the Bathurst herd. grave concern to the governments of the Northwest Then as now, knowledge of the status and condi- Territories (NWT) and its neighbouring jurisdictions. tion of caribou herds was a quagmire of conflicting With Bathurst herd estimates of more than 100 000 reports, differing perspectives and great lacunae in in 2006 descending to about 32 000 in 2009 (NWT the management data available. I want to offer a Environment and Natural Resources, 2009), concerns cautionary tale about the earlier conceptions of crisis, have escalated to a point where the Bathurst herd at and discuss lessons that might be used to avoid inap- least is said to be threatened with extinction1. In my propriate crisis management actions in future caribou preliminary review of information pertaining to the resource decisions. current condition of the Bathurst herd, I found a dis- This paper reflects on methods in understanding turbing similarity between the conditions associated caribou population dynamics and harvesting as two with the alleged Bathurst herd decline today and that critical aspects of caribou management. I begin by of the mainland herds some 60 years ago. Wisely, providing a brief description of my own scientific and the term “crisis” has been avoided in official docu- experiential formation in order to properly situate my ments; however the sense of anxiety that has pervaded perspective. Subsequent sections reflect on two con- meetings, press releases and documents has brought trasting management scenarios that emerged from about proposals for measures to stop the decline and/ distinct census approaches in the 1950s and 1960s: or bring about a recovery of the herd that, as in the the officially declared crisis of declining caribou 1950s, were ill-informed, premature and inappropri- populations in the 1950s, and my own argument put ate and could be harmful to caribou in the future. forward in the 1960s that there was an impending crisis of caribou overpopulation, and that contrary to 1 “The proposal concludes that if hunting continued at the 2008/09 levels, that the prevailing view, harvesting could play a positive the herd may be eliminated in 4 years” (Gunn, 2010). role in caribou conservation. Rangifer, Special Issue No. 20, 2012 85 The first so-called caribou crisis was defined by From classroom to field experience leading biologists in the 1940s and early 1950s, com- Since my perspective concerning the cause of the ing to a head, so to speak, in 1955/56. This was based alleged decline of the Bathurst herd and the response on the assumption, ill-founded in evidence, that of governments to it may differ noticeably from that the migratory caribou populations of the mainland of the government biologists, I believe that I should NWT were in serious decline brought about primari- describe the two key aspects of my training and expe- ly by indigenous hunters engaged in “wanton slaugh- rience that have shaped my point of view, including ter” of caribou and by wolves. It was argued that this formal science-based management training and field situation would inevitably lead to the extinction of experience. those caribou, if not controlled immediately. This I received my academic training and a Bachelor author hypothesized a contrary kind of crisis ten of Arts and Sciences degree at the University of Sas- years later (Ruttan, 1966), arguing that burgeon- katchewan in 1950, where development of my cre- ing populations (especially of the Bathurst herd and dentials for caribou management included informal augmented by the Beverly herd ) would soon exceed training in wildlife management with D. S. Rawson. the carrying capacity of their range and “crash” if not I was one of his research assistants in a regional study quickly reduced by systematic hunting of 100 000 or of the suitability of impoundments for the introduc- more animals for several years. tion of pond fish (Rawson & Ruttan, 1952)2. Rawson I argue that the prevailing conception of crisis was a specialist in limnology; moreover, his knowl- during the 1950s and 1960s focused on maximiz- edge of ecology and of the management of renew- ing populations and minimizing hunting without able resources was of the highest order. While his adequate regard to the complex factors affecting knowledge and insights were wide-ranging, several population dynamics. This situation, in my opinion, key principles he espoused have remained with me is still operative with regard to the Bathurst herd.. and guided my approach to wildlife management I have not been directly involved in caribou throughout my professional life: Get the data before research or management in the NWT since 1969, but you come to a final conclusion; it is all right to speculate, was an observer of the so-called crisis of the 1950s if you do not confuse speculation with fact; and, do not and an active participant in the crisis of the 1960s. overlook an anomaly in the data simply because it is not Unfortunately, my extensive personal files pertaining statistically significant – it may be of great importance. to that period were lost, although at the time I sub- Most of my training in caribou ecology, however, mitted full reports of my findings to the Canadian was through hands-on experience as a hunter and Wildlife Service (CWS). I have to rely on my vivid observer of caribou and of indigenous hunters that memories of the period in these reflections, leaving began with my first observation of barren ground archival and scientific verification to a younger gen- caribou near the Churchill River at Buffalo Narrows eration of researchers. Moreover, my own training and in the winter of 1951/52. Subsequently, I served six experience during the 1950s and 1960s is the window years as a fur and game management biologist for through which I view caribou ecology. It is not with- the province of Saskatchewan and participated in in the scope of this paper to compare my perspective frequent reconnaissance flights followed by system- with recent theoretical and applied developments in atic aerial censuses of moose and deer upon which caribou population and conservation science. management recommendations were made. I also I bring a unique historical perspective to the com- participated in the 1955 re-survey of caribou (Kelsall plex topic as a result of my dual grounding in wildlife & Loughery, 1955)3 and became one of its severest management and ecology, and traditional indigenous critics. knowledge as it was practiced by people still living As a fur management biologist, my work often put on the land 60 years ago. It is my experience that the me in close contact with Cree, Métis and Chipewyan two areas of knowledge enrich each other and togeth- trappers who were also hunters of barren ground cari- er they provide a clearer picture of the interaction of bou. I often camped and hunted with Saskatchewan land, people and animals that we are seeking to learn Dene in such locations as Scott Lake, Wollaston Lake about. As there are few living today who have these memories, it is my modest hope that my experiences 2 I had the privilege of co- authoring this work with Dr. Rawson while an under- from an earlier era might shed light on management graduate, doing all the field work during this two year study and sharing the approaches in addressing current concerns about lab analysis (Rawson & Ruttan, 1952). declining caribou populations. 3 T.A. Harper and I conducted the Saskatchewan portion of the aerial resurvey while J.P. Kelsall and Saskatchewan Game officer F.W. Terry conducted the Northwest Territories portion. 86 Rangifer, Special Issue No. 20, 2012 and Stony Rapids, Black Lake and Cree Lake, and the literature led me to expect and the actual condi- through their tolerant and patient teaching, gained tions I found. an understanding of traditional ecological knowledge Until I went north, Banfield’s 1954 report caused (TEK) that few academic students have access to. me to believe that the migratory barren-ground Subsequently I spent more than four years as an out- caribou existed as 19 distinct herds (to which he gave fitter (and part-time logger and trapper) whose hired names). It was soon apparent to me that several of guides were Cree trappers from Canoe Lake. These those herds were only segments of large herds, sighted guides also introduced me to woodland (boreal) cari- at different times and in different places, during the bou and boreal caribou ecology, sharing knowledge first caribou surveys that Banfield conducted in 1949 that I drew upon in 1960 in a three month study of and 1950. In addition, Kelsall’s description of unu- winter ecology (Ruttan, 1961). sual movement and change of range by a large herd Between 1962 and 1969 I also spent time with between the summer of 1956 and winter 1957/58 Inuit hunters who had survived the relocation pro- turned out to be a series of consecutive sightings of grams of the 1950s and was able to observe their three large herds, the Beverly, Bathurst and Bluenose hunting practices and use of caribou.

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