INTERNATIONAL PORCUPINE CARIBOU BOARD
The International Porcupine Caribou Board met in Whitehorse, Yukon on January 27, 1993. The Board, established by an agreement between Canada and the United States in 1987, is charged with advising the respective governments on management of the Porcupine caribou herd. The caribou are harvested widely by several communities in both the United States and Canada.
The Board continued its work on an international conservation plan for the Porcupine caribou herd as well as a report on sensitive habitats deserving special consideration. These documents will be part of the 1992 Annual Report of the Board, to be published in April.
The Board received information on Cadmium levels in the Porcupine Caribou Herd in Yukon and will follow the issue as more data become available.
The Porcupine Caribou Technical Committee reported that the herd contained 160,000 caribou in July 1992. Biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Canadian Wildlife Service, and the Yukon Department of Renewable Resources cooperated in the count.
The Porcupine herd has been growing at an annual rate of about 5% per year and reached a high of 178,000 in 1989. The recent decline was not accompanied by any measurable change in birth rate and early calf mortality. However, conditions the past two years on the herds winter range in Canada were severe, and a composition survey conducted by Yukon biologists last March indicated low recruitment of yearlings. The Technical Committee is currently analyzing radio-collared caribou data to see if increased winter mortality of adults may also be a factor in the recent decline.
The Porcupine Herd is still very large and, so far, has continued to have good productivity and early calf survival. Nevertheless, the current decline may continue, at least temporarily, because cows appeared to remain in relatively poor physical shape last summer and winter conditions are again severe. The Board will continue to monitor the situation.
Because of weather conditions, the Board was unable to hold its meeting in Dawson City, Yukon, as planned. The regular public meeting was therefore postponed.
The International Porcupine Caribou Boards next meeting is tentatively scheduled for early October, 1993 in Arctic Village, Alaska.
-FWS-
