Caribou de la toundra

Adulte, le caribou de la toundra mâle mesure environ 110 cm au garrot. Il peut peser jusqu’à 140 kg à l’automne lorsqu’il est au sommet de sa forme et tomber à environ 100 kg en novembre après un mois d’activité sexuelle. En hiver, la femelle adulte pèse environ 85 kg.

Le caribou a de longues pattes qui se terminent par de gros sabots larges et tranchants. Ses sabots lui permettent de creuser dans la glace et la neige pour se nourrir pendant les mois d’hiver et lui procurent un bon soutien et une bonne traction sur la neige, la glace ou le muskeg.

En hiver, les coussinets charnus présents entre les sabots se contractent et les poils entre les orteils forment des touffes qui recouvrent les coussinets et les protègent du contact avec le sol gelé.

Le caribou est l’un des rares mammifères à être capable de digérer les lichens.

La couleur du pelage du caribou varie selon les saisons. Après la mue estivale, le caribou est brun foncé avec un ventre blanc et une crinière blanche caractéristiques. Pendant les mois d’été, des jarres à pointe blanche poussent et donnent au caribou une couleur brun clair plus uniforme à l’automne.

Les jarres sont creux et donnent de la flottabilité au caribou lorsqu’il nage pendant les mois d’été. En hiver, les cellules d’air des jarres agissent comme isolant pour conserver la chaleur corporelle.

Pendant l’hiver, le pelage du caribou devient beige clair.

Le caribou est la seule espèce dont les mâles et les femelles ont des bois. Les femelles utilisent leurs bois pour éloigner les autres caribous des trous qu’elles ont creusés pour s’alimenter. Les mâles ont de grands bois pour démontrer leur force auprès des autres mâles et des femelles.

Les bois tombent et repoussent chaque année. L’os des bois se recouvre de velours au fur et à mesure qu’il se développe. Le velours est une peau abondamment pourvue de nerfs et de vaisseaux sanguins et densément recouverte de poils courts.

Les faons ont des bois courts et pointus dont la taille et la complexité augmentent chaque année, jusqu’à ce qu’ils soient plus âgés. Les caribous plus âgés ont des bois plus petits et moins ramifiés. Les mâles adultes peuvent perdre leurs bois dès le mois de novembre, juste après le rut. Les mâles plus jeunes et les femelles stériles peuvent conserver leurs bois jusqu’en avril. Les femelles en gestation perdent leurs bois quelques jours après la mise bas, en juin.

Le caribou de la toundra commence à migrer de ses aires d’hivernage vers le nord pour gagner ses aires de mise bas en mars et en avril. Les femelles en gestation mènent la marche pour parvenir rapidement aux aires de mise bas traditionnelles. Ces aires de mise bas peuvent se trouver à une distance allant jusqu’à 700 km et sont souvent situées dans des zones élevées et rocheuses peu protégées du vent et de la neige. Les hardes de caribous de la toundra sont généralement nommées d’après une caractéristique géographique de l’aire de mise bas.

Les mâles et les caribous qui n’ont pas encore atteint l’âge adulte traînent derrière les femelles et ne se rendent pas jusqu’à l’aire de mise bas.

La plupart des faons naissent à quelques jours d’intervalle au cours des deux premières semaines de juin, alors que les températures sont généralement proches du point de congélation. Les faons peuvent se tenir debout et téter leur mère quelques minutes après leur naissance. En une heure, le faon peut suivre sa mère.

Après la mise bas, les mères et les faons entament une longue marche vers leur aire de répartition d’hiver. Lorsque le printemps fait place à l’été, les femelles rejoignent les mâles qui ont continué à se déplacer vers le nord.

Les caribous forment des groupes denses ou « regroupements d’élevage » dans le but de réduire les perturbations intenses causées par les moustiques, les hypodermes et les œstres du nez. Ces groupes peuvent compter des dizaines de milliers d’animaux.

En août et en septembre, la perturbation par les insectes diminue et permet aux caribous de se concentrer sur l’alimentation. Ils se divisent en hardes plus petites et traversent lentement la toundra en direction de la limite des arbres. Ils prennent rapidement du poids en se nourrissant de champignons, de lichens, d’arbustes et de graminées. Les femelles en particulier doivent prendre suffisamment de poids pour pouvoir s’accoupler à l’automne.

Le rut a lieu en octobre, lorsque les mâles sont au sommet de leur forme. Le rut peut durer deux ou trois semaines, mais la plupart des femelles sont fécondées à quelques jours d’intervalle.

La répartition du caribou de la toundra change constamment en hiver, les hardes recherchant des endroits où la nourriture est abondante et la neige peu profonde. Le caribou utilise son excellent odorat pour trouver des lichens sous la neige. Ses gros sabots sont conçus pour creuser des trous d’alimentation dans la neige et la glace. Les lichens sont le principal composant de leur régime alimentaire hivernal, mais ils consomment également des carex et des feuilles de conifères.

Lorsque le printemps arrive, les caribous reprennent leur migration vers les aires de mise bas.

The range used by the Beverly herd extends from the boreal forests of Saskatchewan, across the subarctic taiga of the NWT, to the Arctic tundra of west-central Nunavut. The range overlaps with the Bathurst caribou herd on the west, and Qamanirjuaq and Ahiak caribou herds on the east.

The Beverly herd calves in the Western Queen Maud Gulf area. Historically, it also calved on traditional inland calving areas near Beverly and Garry Lakes in Nunavut.

Monitoring and co-management of the Beverly herd is shared by the governments of Nunavut, NWT and Saskatchewan, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, the Wek’èezhìı Renewable Resources Board, and the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board.

The 2023–2032 Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Plan: Caribou is Life guides the monitoring and management of this herd in the NWT.

The range of the Qamanirjuaq herd straddles Manitoba and Nunavut with portions in the southeast NWT and northeast Saskatchewan. The herd calves in the vicinity of Qamanirjuaq Lake in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut. The range overlaps with Beverly and Ahiak herds to the west and north.

Monitoring and co-management of the Qamanirjuaq herd is shared by the governments of Nunavut, NWT, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, and the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board.

The 2023–2032 Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Plan: Caribou is Life guides the monitoring and management of this herd in the NWT.

The Ahiak caribou calve in the vicinity of the Adelaide Peninsula (eastern Queen Maud Gulf) east to Pelly Bay, Nunavut. The herd spends most summers in the Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary. The fall and spring migration leads them through, and south of, the Thelon Game Sanctuary, which extends their winter range into the NWT. The herd winters on the barrens and in the boreal forest in the area northwest of the Saskatchewan border to the north side of Great Slave Lake.

Monitoring and co-management of the Ahiak herd is shared by the governments of Nunavut and NWT, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, and the Wek’èezhìı Renewable Resources Board. There is no management plan in place for the Ahiak herd.

For the latest population estimates for these caribou herds, visit our page on Population Surveys.

Resident, outfitted and commercial harvest of Beverly, Qamanirjuaq and Ahiak caribou in the NWT was suspended in 2010.

In January 2014, the GNWT re-opened a resident harvest in the range of the Beverly, Qamanirjuaq and Ahiak caribou herds (limited season, one tag per year, bull-only).

Bathurst caribou are named for Bathurst Inlet, the general area of the herd’s traditional calving grounds.

• FACT SHEET: Bathurst Caribou

The Bathurst caribou range (or use of habitat) extends from southern and central Northwest Territories (NWT) to the Bathurst Inlet in Nunavut. In some years, they have wintered as far south as northern Saskatchewan.

The Bathurst caribou herd has suffered a dramatic decline in numbers from a high of roughly 470,000 in the mid-1980s to a low of about 3,609.

• See Population Surveys

Population surveys since 2003 indicate a rapid decline in the population size.

2003               186,000 animals

2006               128,000 animals

2009                32,000 animals

2012                35,000 animals

2015                20,000 animals

2018                8,200 animals

2021                6,240 animals

2022                6,851 animals

2025                3,609 animals  

Monitoring and co-management of the Bathurst herd is shared by the governments of NWT, Nunavut and Saskatchewan, the Wek’èezhìı Renewable Resources Board, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, and the Bathurst Caribou Advisory Committee.

The 2021 Bathurst Caribou Management Plan guides the monitoring and management of this herd in the NWT. The Bathurst Caribou Range Plan provides guidance for the management of cumulative impacts on the Bathurst herd’s range.

The Bathurst herd remains at critical low status. This means strong management actions need to remain in place to support recovery.

• There is no harvest of Bathurst caribou allowed in the NWT. A Mobile Core Bathurst Caribou Management Zone (Mobile Zone)was put in place in 2015 to protect the herd. 
• View the latest map showing where caribou cannot be harvested to protect the Bathurst herd – known as the Mobile Zone
• Indigenous-led guardianship programs monitor the herd’s health and harvest levels.
  • Learn more:
    • Tłı̨chǫ Government Ekwǫ̀ Nàxoède K’è caribou monitoring program
    • Yellowknives Dene First Nation wildlife management
    • North Slave Metis Alliance Environment Department
• Efforts to promote safe and respectful harvesting practices are ongoing in collaboration with Indigenous governments and organizations and guardianship programs. This includes regular enforcement patrols by ground and air in the Mobile Zone and along the winter road.
  • Read more:
    • GNWT and Indigenous leaders call for respectful harvesting amid rising caribou wastage
• Population surveys are completed every 2-3 years to reassess herd status and health, and GPS collars are used to monitor caribou throughout the year.

The Bathurst Caribou Range Plan helps decision-makers manage activities on the land in a way that supports the recovery of the Bathurst herd, while providing clarity on land use and access for developers, regulators and residents of the Northwest Territories (NWT).

Since the mid-1980s, the Bathurst caribou herd has declined by more than 98 per cent despite extensive efforts to support caribou conservation and promote herd recovery. The Bathurst Caribou Range Plan is a response to calls for action to help the herd recover and make sure its habitat remains healthy.

The Bathurst herd’s traditional range extends from southern and central NWT to Bathurst Inlet in Nunavut. In some years, they have wintered as far south as northern Saskatchewan. The Range Plan has adopted a planning area based on local, traditional and scientific knowledge about how caribou use the land throughout the year.

Making sure Bathurst caribou are healthy now and into the future depends, in part, on our ability to manage and maintain the land in a way that will continue to support caribou. That includes making choices about how we manage disturbance to caribou and caribou habitat.

The Range Plan includes a Cumulative Land Disturbance Framework for managing the overall amount of disturbance on the land, as well as seven management tools to reduce and manage impacts to caribou and caribou habitat. To apply the Range Plan successfully in decisions about land use requires a genuine commitment from governments, organizations, industry, communities and individuals across multiple jurisdictions.

The principles and recommendations in the Range Plan should be applied to:

1. Land use planning
2. Community guardianship programs
3. Wildlife management recommendations and actions (governments and renewable resources boards)
4. Environmental assessments
5. Regulatory processes
6. Industry protocols and best management practices

It is important to note that the Range Plan itself is advisory and all recommendations are non-binding. All management recommendations must respect the legislated co-management processes in place and under development in each jurisdiction.

• Bathurst Caribou Range Plan (with Executive Summary in French)
• Bathurst Caribou Range Plan Summary

The Bathurst caribou herd has undergone a significant decline in recent years, with a decrease of more than 98% since 1986. The Bathurst Caribou Management Plan is a response to calls for action to help the herd recover and make sure its habitat remains healthy.

The plan was developed under the direction of the Bathurst Caribou Advisory Committee. It builds on the recommendations of the 2019 Bathurst Caribou Range Plan and brings together important knowledge and insight from guardianship initiatives and community-based monitoring programs across the Bathurst caribou range.

The Bathurst Caribou Management Plan makes recommendations for the recovery and long-term well-being of the Bathurst barren-ground caribou herd across the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Saskatchewan.

The plan recognizes the role of Indigenous peoples and other northerners as caribou guardians and the shared responsibility for managing human actions to support the recovery and well-being of the herd.

The management plan describes five ways we can take action:

• Harvest: Ensure harvest levels are sustainable and caribou are conserved over time.
• Habitat and Disturbance: Manage land use and disturbance to caribou so the herd is conserved within its natural range.
• Predators: Reduce the impact of predators on caribou based on the best available information, and reflecting Indigenous values and laws.
• Research and Monitoring: Learn more about Bathurst caribou, their habitat, and relationships with other species.
• Communication and Education: Educate people about Bathurst caribou conservation and respectful harvesting and land use.

The management plan outlines specific actions to help the Bathurst herd recover.

These actions are based on herd status. Six herd status levels are defined by the number of caribou in the herd and whether the population is increasing or decreasing.

If the Bathurst herd is decreasing or at low numbers, there will be stronger actions taken to protect the herd. If the herd is increasing or at high numbers, actions will be adjusted to reflect the health of the herd.

Herd status and management actions will be reviewed annually to make sure we are on the right track.

The herd status categories are:

• Critical low – less than 30,000 animals
• Low and increasing – between 30,000 and 100,000 animals (population increasing)
• Medium and increasing – between 100,000 and 350,000 animals (population increasing)
• High – more than 350,000
• Medium and decreasing – between 100,000 and 350,000 (population decreasing)
• Low and decreasing – between 30,000 and 100,000 (population decreasing)

The BCAC was formed in 2017. It is made up of 18 governments and organizations from the NWT, Nunavut and Saskatchewan representing communities that have traditionally interacted with the Bathurst caribou herd.

Together, they developed this plan and will put it into action.

The committee includes:

Public Governments

• Government of the Northwest Territories
• Government of Nunavut
• Government of Canada (Parks Canada)

Indigenous Governments and Organizations

• Tłı̨chǫ Government
• Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated
• Athabasca Denesųłiné Néné Land Corporation
• Yellowknives Dene First Nation
• Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation
• Northwest Territory Métis Nation
• North Slave Métis Alliance
• Salt River First Nation
• Deninu K'ųę́ First Nation

Other Management Authorities

• Wek’èezhìı Renewable Resources Board
• Kitikmeot Regional Wildlife Board
• Kugluktuk Angoniatit Association (Hunters and Trapper Organization)
• Umingmaktok Hunters and Trappers Organization (Bay Chimo)
• Burnside Hunters and Trappers Organization (Bathurst Inlet)
• Ekaluktutiak Hunters and Trappers Organization (Cambridge Bay)

• View the most recent map
• Download the .gpx file for your GPS device

The Mobile Core Bathurst Caribou Management Zone is a wildlife management zone for barren-ground caribou under the Wildlife Act.

This Zone (yellow on the map) was implemented in order to let hunters know where harvesting is prohibited and assist in protecting and conserving the Bathurst caribou herd.

You must not hunt caribou inside this zone.

The GNWT does not make caribou locations or numbers publicly available due to significant conservation concerns.

New maps will be posted as updated information on animal distribution becomes available.  

The map is updated every Tuesday. You can get a map from:

• Gordon Lake check station
• McKay Lake check station
• Your local or regional ECC office
• Your local band, community, government or organization office
• ECC Facebook page
• View the most recent map on the ECC website
• Download the most recent .gpx file for your GPS device

If caught:

• An officer will investigate the scene.
• If the officer determines that the caribou may have been harvested illegally, they will seize the caribou meat.
• The officer may ask for a voluntary statement from you for the investigation file.
• The officer will write up a violation report, and after an investigation is under way, you will be told the next steps.
• If the investigation indicates there has been an illegal harvest in the Mobile Zone, a charge will be laid and you will get a date for a court appearance.
• If the officer seizes your meat and ECC is not able to store the meat until the court process is complete:
  • The officer will write up a disposition order to decide who will receive the meat.
  • You will receive notice that a disposition hearing is set with a Justice of the Peace.
  • You can state your case to keep the meat at the hearing. If it is decided you can’t keep it, the meat becomes the property of the GNWT.
  • The GNWT will give the meat to a charitable organization.

The results of satellite tracking and genetic studies done between 1996 and 2003 showed three genetically distinct herds using different seasonal ranges (calving and rutting) in an area once thought of as one "Bluenose" caribou herd. Since 2000, these animals have been surveyed and managed as distinct herds.

The Bluenose-East herd was estimated at 104,000 animals in 2000. The herd has declined since then, except for a brief increase between 2006 and 2010 followed by another decline. Recently, this herd has shown signs of recovery.

• FACT SHEET: Bluenose-East Caribou

Outfitted and commercial harvest of Bluenose-East caribou has been suspended since 2006. There is a limited Indigenous harvest in Wek’èezhìı (bulls only).

As the primary harvesting community of the Bluenose-East herd in the Sahtú region, Délı̨nę has implemented a community-based caribou conservation plan, Belare Wıle Gots’ę́ Ɂekwę́ – Caribou for All Time, which supports a limited harvest of 150 caribou (mostly bulls) and allows for community self-regulation of caribou harvesting.

The Bluenose-West herd was estimated at about 112,000 animals in 1992 but declined to about 21,000 by 2005. Population estimates in 2021 and 2025 indicate the herd continues to be stable at a low level.

Resident, outfitted and commercial harvest of Bluenose-West caribou has been suspended since 2006.

Indigenous harvest of the herd is limited. A harvest quota (primarily bulls) is divided among three regions (Inuvialuit, Gwich’in and Sahtú). Colville Lake has implemented a community-based caribou conservation plan, the Dehlá Got’ı̨ne ʔədə Plan.

The Cape Bathurst herd was estimated at about 19,000 animals in the early 1990s and declined to 2,400 animals by 2012. Recent survey results indicate the herd is recovering from the earlier declines, with an estimate of around 8,500 caribou in 2025.

All harvest of the Cape Bathurst herd has been suspended since 2007. The herd’s calving grounds on the Cape Bathurst Peninsula are protected through the Inuvialuit Community Conservation Plans and provisions in the Inuvialuit Final Agreement. The area is also recognized as a conservation area under the NWT Wildlife Act between May 25 and June 15.

For the latest population estimates for each herd, see Population Surveys.

The Advisory Committee for Cooperation on Wildlife Management (ACCWM) guides the management of the Bluenose-West, Bluenose-East and Cape Bathurst caribou herds through the implementation of the Taking Care of Caribou Management Plan. The plan addresses the need to have a cooperative approach to managing for the herds, protecting the habitat in the herds’ range, and making decisions on the shared harvests in an open and fair manner. It was developed in consultation with the communities that harvest from the three herds.

The Bluenose Caribou Management Plan Community Report is a companion document to the Management Plan. It provides further community knowledge. A Technical Report provides further scientific knowledge. Gaps in knowledge and research suggestions are presented for consideration by the co-management boards responsible for managing for these herds.

The ACCWM meets annually to determine the status of each of the herds and develop herd-specific action plans.

The Taking Care of Caribou Management Plan defines four herd status levels. Each herd status triggers specific management actions, which are related to the natural population cycles as well as cumulative effects on the herds.

Each of the wildlife management boards/councils on the ACCWM collects input from their communities, including scientific knowledge and up to date community observations, and shares it with partners at the annual status meeting.

Advisory Committee for Cooperation on Wildlife Management

The ACCWM is made up of six co-management boards that share authority for the Bluenose-West, Bluenose-East and Cape Bathurst caribou herds:

• Wildlife Management Advisory Council (NWT)
• Gwich’in Renewable Resources Board
• Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı (Sahtú Renewable Resources Board)
• Wek’èezhìi Renewable Resources Board
• Kitikmeot Regional Wildlife Board
• Tuktut Nogait National Park Management Board

GNWT supports the ACCWM and uses these plans as primary guidance for monitoring and management of these herds.

The Porcupine caribou herd range includes the Northwest Territories (NWT), Yukon and Alaska, with the calving grounds located along the Arctic coast in Alaska and Yukon. Much of the herd’s calving and post-calving ranges exist within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the North Slope in Alaska.

• FACT SHEET: Porcupine Caribou

The latest population estimate of the Porcupine caribou herd is 218,000 (2017), up from 197,000 animals in 2013. Porcupine caribou have not suffered the same declines as other North American caribou herds.

Management of this international herd is guided by two co-management boards: the International Porcupine Caribou Board and the Porcupine Caribou Management Board (PCMB) in Canada, which includes representation from the Gwich’in Tribal Council, Inuvialuit Game Council, Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, Na-cho Nyäk Dün, GNWT, Government of Canada and Yukon Government.

Members of the PCMB have taken a number of actions to protect the Porcupine caribou herd and its habitat in Canada. These include:

• Establishment of Ivvavik National Park, under the Inuvaluit Final Agreement, to protect the calving grounds of the herd in Canada.
• Land withdrawal of the Yukon North Slope west of the Babbage River, under the Inuvialuit Final Agreement. The Aullaviat/Anguniarvik Traditional Conservation Area was established in 2024.
• Establishment of Vuntut National Park, under the Vuntut Gwitchin Final Agreement in Yukon.
• Development of a Harvest Management Plan and Implementation Plan, which coordinate management actions for the herd according to its size and status.
• Continued participation and support for the PCMB.
• Areas identified under the Aklavik Community Conservation Plan where no development is allowed, due to extreme cultural and renewable resource significance and sensitivity.