Here's how caribou matchmaking — and a stud book — could help save Alberta's dwindling herds
CBC
A careful kind of matchmaking will guide a last-resort effort to restore Jasper National Park's vanishing herds of woodland caribou.
With the park's remaining herds considered too small to survive, Parks Canada plans to capture females — along with a small roster of bulls — and breed them in captivity.
The hope is that each rutting season, nature will take its course inside the facility's breeding pens— albeit with some human intervention.
Animal husbandry would be critical to ensuring the health of the expanding herd, said David Argument, a resource conservation officer with Jasper National Park.
With so few caribou left, how the animals are sourced from the wild — and mated in captivity — would need to be carefully managed.
"We will be keeping what's known as a stud book. Who's paired with who? Who were the parents of each offspring?" Argument said. "So we can keep track of that genetic diversity and make sure we're not getting into an inbreeding situation."
The $25-million project would permanently pen up to 40 females and five males in a one-square kilometre facility surrounded by an electric fence.
Public consultations on the facility are ongoing until September. A final decision is expected this fall.
If Parks Canada approves the plan, construction on the facility near Athabasca Falls, about 30 kilometres south of Jasper, would begin this winter. The first calves would be born in the spring of 2025 and released into the Tonquin herd the following year.
Male yearlings would be released as well but the program's success would hinge on the females, which can give birth to one calf each year, Argument said.
Some females born in captivity would stay at the facility to expand the breeding stock.
"The number of males is not as important," he said. "One male caribou can have a harem of cows."
It's hoped the captive breeding program could produce around 20 calves a year — enough to bring the herds to sustainable levels within a decade.
The first priority would be saving the Tonquin herd, building it from the edge of extinction to self-sustaining population of 200.