No denying it: Boreal Caribou are a Canadian icon.
While most Ontarians will never see this shy northern species in the wild, we only need to reach into our pockets to be reminded of their iconic status: yep, that’s a caribou on the back of our quarters!
But while caribou were once found in 80% of the country, they’re now a species at risk.
That’s why it’s such great news that Ontario and Canada are teaming up to invest in the conservation and recovery of caribou, including exploring the expansion of parks that protect this special species’ habitat.
In addition to science and monitoring commitments, Ontario is exploring opportunities to expand existing protected areas as part of the Caribou Conservation Agreement.
And — you guessed it — some of those protected areas are part of the Ontario Parks system!
If approved, these expansions would entail the addition of up to 44,000 ha to existing provincial parks – equivalent to nearly half the size of Prince Edward County!
Caribou need their space
These shy and highly secretive animals need large pine/spruce forests free of roads and other disturbances to thrive.
It’s one of the many reasons big wilderness parks — like our own Wabakimi and Woodland Caribou provincial parks — are so critical to our provincial protection efforts.
It’s estimated that the average herd of Boreal Caribou requires at least 900,000 ha of undisturbed wilderness — about the size of Wabakimi Provincial Park (850,000 ha) and approximately 14 times the size of the City of Toronto (63,000 ha). This size is a minimum requirement to sustain caribou, since human activities that disturb and fragment their forest habitat, such as road building, impact their survival.
In fact, one of the main reasons Wabakimi and Woodland Caribou provincial parks were formed was to protect caribou habitat!
These parks are habitat anchors: protected spaces in the boreal forest that are critical for caribou populations.
Home sweet home: the boreal forest
While one of Ontario’s caribou populations migrates seasonally, the Boreal population stays in — you guessed it — the boreal forest all year round.
Boreal forests are rich ecosystems that are constantly changing (think: insect cycles, growth periods, wildfires). Caribou use different parts of the entire landscape over time — that’s one reason they need so much space.
Caribou depend heavily on lichen that grows in the trees and on the ground of the boreal forest during the winter and summer months. In the summer, they supplement their diet with other plants.
During the winter, caribou can smell lichen under a metre of snow, and will dig down to the ground to eat lichen, a behaviour caribou biologists refer to as “cratering.”
Caribou have large cloven hooves that act like snowshoes to support it when walking through deep snow or muskeg. These hooves also help them scoop and crater snow to get at ground lichen.
Lichen grows best in open Jack Pine or Black Spruce stands, and regenerates best after an intense forest fire. These fires are important in providing future caribou habitat, however, once lichen is disturbed, it can take a minimum of 40 years or more to recover.
Caribou are sensitive to disturbance, whether natural (like forest fires) or human (like roads) — again, that’s why our existing parks are so important and why a big part of the plan to help caribou includes a proposal to expand protected areas!
How our staff already support caribou protection
Ontario Parks is an important part of the province’s broader protection effort. We collaborate with teams like Species at Risk Branch and Aviation, Forest Fires, and Emergency Services (AFFES) to do our part.
For example, in Northwestern Ontario, park staff contribute to provincial caribou research by conducting aerial surveys.
In 2023, we took to the skies over Wabakimi and Woodland Caribou, flying transects of the park to evaluate caribou populations and behaviour.
Why do aerial surveys happen in the winter?
Because in the summer, it’s almost impossible to spot the caribou — they blend in!
In the winter, it’s easier to spot the caribou against the white backdrop, plus we can see their tracks in the snow!
In 2023, the caribou were mostly in the trees, which makes it trickier to find them.
In some areas of the park, we saw evidence of tracks on the lakes. There was also some cratering and browsing along shorelines where snow was melting, and lichens were exposed (lunch!).
Trail cams can also help us learn where caribou are active in parks (most of the non-aerial photos in this blog are from our trail cams!), and assist staff in making the best park management decisions.
Learning about caribou behaviour helps us make good decisions about park management.
For example, we know caribou need lots of habitat (hundreds of kilometres) in older, lichen rich forests. We also know that hot intense fires are required to renew the growth of ground lichen, but also that caribou will avoid burnt out areas while waiting for the lichen to return.
In the event of a wildfire (a common and natural part of the boreal forest ecosystem), information about caribou patterns can help staff decide which areas of the park to protect and which areas to allow to burn, creating a mosaic of current and future caribou habitat.
Likewise, knowing what parts of the park caribou are using help us make good decisions about recreational use. If we know caribou are using certain islands or peninsulas for spring calving, for instance, we can designate these areas as nurseries, and redirect canoe routes and portages to avoid disturbing them.
Providing a place of protection for this Canadian icon
It is estimated that there are roughly 5,000 boreal caribou in Ontario, and they’re listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, 2007.
Our parks are important anchors for this iconic species at risk. We’re proud of our efforts to support caribou populations in Ontario, and excited to be part of future conservation efforts for this amazing species.
