Herd NORTH PLANNING REGION

Identifying the areas most often used by caribou is a critical step toward developing a land use plan that balances caribou conservation with other factors that may affect the future health of caribou populations

150 148 146 144 142 140 138 136 134 Satellite-collared female caribou - Steve Fancy photo

Distribution of Radio- Seasonal Caribou Distribution & Migration Patterns ± Collared Porcupine Caribou BEAUF OR T S E A (1983 - 2004) (ARCTIC OCEAN ) , Yukon & Northwest Territories Herschel Territorial Park BE AUFO RT S E A Scale: 1:1,350,000 20 0 20 40 60 80 100 (A RC TI C O C EA N) Ivvavik Kilometres National Park Prudhoe Bay Yukon Albers Projection, NAD83 !( Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Deadhorse !( (ANWR) LEGEND r Bullen e !( v Porcupine Caribou Distribution North Yukon Planning Region Vuntut i R 70 70 Kaktovik National Park !( Calving concentrated use area Park/protected area Arctic Village Calving general use area Major road/highway (!

k o Other seasons concentrated use area International boundary t SMA k

r

i Other seasons general use area Interprovincial boundary n

a Porcupine caribou distribution data sources: v

a Calving concentrated use area and calving general use area (USGS/BRD analysis, 1983-2001)

g Other seasons concentrated use area and other seasons general use area (CWS analysis, 1985-2004) (! a

r S Old Crow e r Herschel v e Gordon i v !( i SA INS R Territorial Park DL TA R C EROCHIT MOUN a NW T n Herschel n North Yukon Planning Region I N v i YU KO n Island i k s g i l h i r a h e k c

i v Ni’iinlii’njik i A R (Fishing Branch) a l S MACKENZ IE

u r R N v e R h O I t Ri i a M A v l A T u B Winter to Spring er u N N k BA Y Z U a H O R F M O g FRA NKLI N n I o MA CKENZI E Caribou Distribution MO UN TA IN S K T R I iv Concentrated use area e S r Whitefish Station r e !( DE LT A v H i General use area D A R V r S I h e v e General Migration Path N D ag I S rt M b Ri (number of caribou) A O Fi b T N Oa N B � Few U Arctic National Wildlife Refuge N O U M w � M (ANWR) lo N KO T H O B � M I U T S � YU ASKA (USA) I L I P N A P H T �

I AL A N � Many I N S 50 0 50 100 150 S !(Aklavik Tombstone Kilometres Territorial Park C

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Special Management Area A Ri t V o Ra R k o I je O Herschel n F L AT S w e L t R R e f Territorial Park Sh D i r C D D R R O I V S Fort McPherson !( E ll !( Ivvavik W R Be Old Crow O National Park R Lapierre House n A !( e N e Arctic National Wildlife Refuge N k l !( Joh o G C ns Rampart House o L (ANWR) C n R d E r o E Cr L sh E

ee fi Sharp P

k M Vuntut ue Mountain Ch R o a E Bl RI ES National Park n d c k TE RR ITO al N E ES T ar I O NO RT HW Arctic Village a RY P TE RR ITO (! U North Yukon Planning Region g YU KO N C l U R e R P O R i i v Old Crow Flats SMA e v e N r K EEL E r RA NG E T R

i v e A (! Ni’iinlii’njik r Old Crow (Fishing Branch I N Wilderness Preserve) N Fort Yukon KO !( NW T YU Arctic Circle S B North Yukon Planning Region r YU KO N Fishing Branch Bear Cave a n Mountain c Ecological Reserve h !(Whitestone Village !( C Eagle Plains Ni’iinlii’njik h g a i n n y (Fishing Branch) d sh a wa la Fi gh r Hi Fishing Branch Fall Migration to Late Fall 66 66 Habitat Protection Area Caribou Distribution Ri v R e r E R R I V Concentrated use area i v e n e o General use area r s t P E E L ite

R h r CR AZ Y W General Migration Path Circle r v e r !( e e Ri MO UN TAIN S r r v (number of caribou) n e i e r

i v v e i R

i NA HO NI � v R Few M R N WH IT E i

Livengood RA NG E R � !( MO UN TAIN S � KO Central !(

� YU ASKA (USA) rt � R Y !( Ha Many AL

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Circle Hot Springs di OR V n to a s TA IG A E K IT k 50 0 50 100 150 R vie c Tombstone i l l a d (USA g

O B n RA NG ES i Kilometres Territorial Park

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ALAS Figure 3

!( YU Chena Hot Springs er WE RN ECKE st BEAUF OR T S E A FAIRBANKS p MO UN TAINS m !( e (ARCTIC OCEAN ) D Ha T rt A N Herschel r Eagle r A e !( e iv iv Territorial Park N R R A O G I L Tombstone a V I Ivvavik al ch E S Te rritoria l M National Park R O U N T A I N S I Park V Forty Mile Arctic National Wildlife Refuge E !( R (ANWR)

Vuntut 148 146 144 142 140 138 136 National Park Arctic Village Figure 1: Porcupine Caribou Distribution (! Old Crow Flats SMA

(! Introduction Key Caribou Conservation Considerations Old Crow

Given the special significance of the Porcupine Caribou Herd to 1. The entire planning region is used by caribou, particu- T North Yukon Planning Region NW northern communities, and the herd’s important role in northern larly during winter, spring migration, fall migration and YU KO N ecosystems, considerable research has been devoted to under- Ni’iinlii’njik late fall. The current herd size is estimated at 123,000 (Fishing Branch) standing the distribution of the herd. One of the studies has in- animals, based on a 2001 survey. Late Fall to Winter volved tracking seasonal movements of cows fitted with radio Caribou Distribution collars. 2. Concentrated use areas represent habitats used at a Concentrated use area General use area higher density than general use areas. General Migration Path Understanding caribou movements and distribution is crucial to (number of caribou)

� Few N identifying areas of conservation importance for land use planning. 3. Caribou generally moved to the North Yukon from the � � KO

� YU winter to spring migration period, en route to the calv- ASKA (USA) � ing grounds (Figure 2). � Many AL Methods 50 0 50 100 150 Tombstone Kilometres Territorial Park Concentrated use areas and general use areas for the Porcupine 4. Caribou generally moved southward to the Richardson Caribou Herd are shown in Figure 1. Concentrated use areas and and Ogilvie ranges from the fall migration to late fall Figure 4 porcupine caribou porcupine general use areas were derived from locations of cows fitted with period (Figure 3). From the late fall to winter period, References radio-collars (1983-2004) for the following seasons: Griffith, B., D. C. Douglas, N. E. Walsh, D. D. Young, T. R. McCabe, D. E. animals showed more localized movements within Russell, R. G. White, R. D. Cameron, and K. R. Whitten. 2002. The Porcupine caribou herd. Pages 8-37 in D. C. Douglas, P. E. Reynolds, and E. these same ranges (Figure 4). B. Rhode, editors. Arctic Refuge coastal plain terrestrial wildlife Winter Dec 1 - Mar 31 research summaries. U. S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Spring migration Apr 1 - May 31 Biological Science Report USGS/BRD BSR-2002-0001. These results are consistent with published findings on Por- McNeil, P., D.E. Russell, B. Griffith, A. Gunn, and G.P. Kofinas. Where the Calving 3 week period after calving begins Wild Things are: Seasonal Variation in Caribou Distribution in Relation to cupine Caribou distribution (i.e. Russell et al. 1992, 1993). Climate Change. Rangifer. In Press. Post-calving/summer Jun 11 - Aug 7 Russell, D.E., K.R. Whitten, R. Farnell, and D. van de Wetering. 1992. Movements and Distribution of the Porcupine Caribou herd, 1970-1990. Technical Report Series No. 138, Fall migration Aug 8 - Oct 7 Canadian Wildlife Service, Pacific and Yukon Region, British Columbia. 139 pp.

Late fall Oct 8 - Nov 30 Environment Environnement Russell, D.E., A.M. Martell, and W.A.C. Nixon. 1993. Range Ecology of the Porcupine Canada USGS Caribou Herd in Canada. Rangifer Special Issue 8. 168 pp. Seaman, D.E., B. Griffith, and R.A. Powell. 1998. KERNELHR: a program Arrows (Figures 2-4) represent general direction of movement of Biological Resources for estimating animal home ranges. Wildlife Society Bulletin 26(1): 95-100. radio-collared caribou from winter to spring, fall migration to late fall and late fall to winter season concentrated use areas.

All analyses are based on current methods to identify areas most utilized by animals (Griffith et al. 2002; McNeil et al. 2005; Seaman

Government of Yukon photo Yukon Government of et al. 1998). © North Yukon Planning Commission, April 2006