Latest information reveals decline in Bathurst and Bluenose-East barren-ground caribou herds

The authorities of the Northwest Territories has new inhabitants estimates for the Bathurst and Bluenose-East barren-ground caribou herds. 

Survey outcomes from this yr present an general decline of each herds in comparison with current years, though the 2025 estimate of the Bluenose-East herd remains to be bigger than in 2021. 

The latest information present an estimated 28,759 grownup Bluenose-East caribou. That’s down from the 39,525 counted in 2023. In 2021, officers counted solely 23,202.

For the Bathurst herd, the 2025 surveys counted about 3,609 grownup caribou. That represents a decline of about 47 per cent over three years, down from 6,851 estimated in 2022. 

“This decline is concerning, given all the efforts of the [territorial government] and our co-management partners to reduce pressures on this herd through a range of management actions,” the federal government of the Northwest Territories mentioned in a information launch Thursday.

The estimates are based mostly on calving floor surveys and herd composition surveys from June and October of this yr. The territorial authorities mentioned it could be assembly with Indigenous governments and different co-management companions to evaluation these outcomes and focus on subsequent steps. 

In June, northerners bought some uncommon excellent news about caribou when information for the Beverly herd confirmed a rise of fifty,000 animals because the final inhabitants survey in 2017. 

In Thursday’s information launch, N.W.T. Environment Minister Jay Macdonald emphasised how central caribou are to northern tradition and id. 

“We are committed to strengthening conservation efforts and increase the numbers of these precious animals, tied so closely to the life in North,” Macdonald mentioned.