• Seventy per cent of B.C.'s caribou herds are in decline and identified as threatened
  under the federal Species at Risk Act.
• Caribou are sensitive to habitat disturbance and alteration associated with industrial
  development and increases in predation from associated predators.
• Caribou recovery is a priority for the B.C. government and it has taken action to meet
  the necessary goals for recovering this species.

Boreal Caribou:

• In 2010, the B.C. government endorsed a Boreal Caribou implementation plan to
  support the management and future recovery of this species.
• Through this plan, B.C. is managing 2.5 million hectares of Boreal Caribou habitat to
  minimize impacts from petroleum and natural gas and forestry activities, and also
  prohibited the sale of 550,000 hectares of Crown land tenure for the purposes of
  petroleum and natural gas development.
• The population and distribution goals of B.C.'s implementation plan are intended to
  decrease the expected rate of decline in the Boreal Caribou herds and reduce the risk of
  population extirpation in certain herds over the next 50 years.

Mountain Caribou:

• In 2007, the B.C. government endorsed the Mountain Caribou Recovery Implementation
  Plan, committing it to several management actions to recover Mountain Caribou in B.C.
• As per this plan, the Province protected 2.2 million hectares of Mountain Caribou
  habitat from industrial logging activities, prohibited the sale of commercial tenures for
  backcountry recreational purposes across two million hectares of Mountain Caribou
  habitat and closed one million hectares of Mountain Caribou habitat to snowmobile use.
• The Province is managing caribou predators through increases to hunting and trapping
  allocations, and has conducted a caribou transplant to support the recovery of a
  critically small herd.
• B.C. has also signed an MOU with Parks Canada, Province of Alberta and Calgary Zoo to
  collaborate on a caribou captive breeding program to support caribou recovery across
  jurisdictions.
• The goals of this plan are to halt the decline of Mountain Caribou and recover the
  population to 2,500 animals within 21 years.

Northern Caribou:

• In 2012, the B.C. government endorsed a Peace Northern Caribou implementation plan
  to increase the population of seven Northern Caribou herds in the south Peace area of
  B.C.
• The Province is currently working with industry and First Nations to protect 90 per cent
  of caribou habitat for these seven herds in the South Peace area, as well as
  implementing required management actions.
• The goal of this plan is to increase the population of these seven herds to more than
  1,200 animals across their range within 21 years.

Contact:

Media Relations
Ministry of Environment
250 953-3834