Caribou herd in Labrador may not recover from rapid decline: biologists
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — A once-thriving caribou herd in Labrador that exceeded 800,000 animals in the 1990s is on the verge of collapse, with fewer than 9,000 remaining, biologists say.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government, in a dire statement released Monday, said the George River herd won’t recover unless all illegal hunting is stopped.
A recent census of the herd shows the population could become extirpated in less than five years, which means the herd will become so small it will lose its capacity to recover.
The rapid decline has been caused by deteriorating habitat, poor food resources, predation and the effects of climate change, according to biologists in Quebec and Labrador.