Caribou conservation breeding

The Conservation Breeding Centre is within low-elevation caribou habitat. While not in the alpine, the conditions at the Conservation Breeding Centre are similar to other environments caribou sometimes experience in the wild. Caribou often travel to lower elevations in spring. The Conservation Breeding Centre is near the Tonquin caribou range, which minimizes transportation time during capture and release.

One of the features that made this location suitable was the forest and healthy understory. However, much of that forest was burned in the 2024 Jasper Wildfire. Shade shelters and cooling stations with water sprinklers have been added to keep the caribou cool in summer. Shelters and sprinklers have been used successfully in zoos and other breeding operations.

Conservation breeding and maternity penning are two ways to increase a wildlife population and prevent extinction. The effectiveness of each method depends on the species and the local context.

Conservation breeding increases the size of wild populations by repeatedly adding caribou. Males and females are captured from the wild and brought into captivity to live and reproduce while protected from predators and other threats to survival. A captive breeding herd is established over several years, with most adults remaining in captivity year-round. When they are about 1 year old, caribou born in captivity are released to join a wild herd. This happens annually until the population reaches a size that can sustain itself.

Maternity penning increases the size of wild populations mainly by helping more calves survive. Pregnant females are captured from the wild in late winter and moved to a temporary pen during calving season. Calves born there are protected from predators when they are most vulnerable. All the caribou in the pen are released back into the wild when calves are about 2 months old.

Conservation breeding focuses on increasing the number of adult females that can give birth, while maternity penning helps increase the number of calves that survive each year. Calf survival in Jasper is already relatively high compared to other caribou populations in Canada.

However, in smaller populations like the Brazeau and Tonquin herds, there are few adult females, so only a limited number of calves are born each year.

Maternity penning would increase the caribou population at a slower rate than conservation breeding. With conservation breeding, the number of reproductive females in the Tonquin herd could increase from 10 to 60 over a decade. In contrast, maternity penning would be expected to result in only up to 20 breeding females over the same period.

Although all caribou are the same species, there are 3 subspecies of caribou in Canada (woodland, barren-ground and Peary) with different genetics, appearances, behaviours and habitats. Caribou in Jasper National Park are an ecotype of woodland caribou called southern mountain caribou.

Different types of caribou live in northern Canada, including barren-ground, boreal and northern mountain caribou. Barren-ground caribou are tundra-dwelling, long-distance migrators that would not be well suited to life in the forest and mountains year-round. Boreal and northern mountain caribou are both types of woodland caribou; however, research has shown that southern mountain caribou closer to Jasper are more genetically and behaviourally alike.

Parks Canada’s program is the first of its kind for caribou in North America. However, techniques for capturing caribou, raising them in captivity, and moving them from one place to another and between herds have been researched, documented and implemented in North America and Europe.

Programs or projects that have informed the conservation breeding program in Jasper include Alaska’s R.G. White Large Animal Research Station; British Columbia’s Klinse-Za, Revelstoke and Arrow Lakes maternity pens; Quebec’s Charlevoix, Gaspésie and Val-d'Or enclosures and maternity pens; and Finland’s “MetsäpeuraLIFE”.

The program may continue for as many as 20 years to reach its goal of self-sustaining caribou populations in Jasper. Given the uncertainties, this type of program will require ongoing research, monitoring, learning and adaptation. Progress will be regularly assessed at key milestones.

Parks Canada will review and revise the program goals based on research, current conditions and consultations with partners and stakeholders. The program will be reassessed if the health or welfare of caribou is jeopardized at any time or if the approach fails to grow the population. The breeding centre is intended to be decommissioned eventually and reclaimed.

The knowledge gained from this conservation program and its Indigenous engagement will have benefits beyond Jasper. Regardless of the outcome, information and lessons learned will be shared with other conservation programs to support the recovery of caribou and other endangered species across Canada and around the world.

Caribou have evolved to live in cooler climates and are adapted to cold, snowy winters. Changes to seasonal cycles, growing seasons and snowfall patterns could affect food availability and habitat. Climate change could reduce alpine habitats and increase the size and frequency of avalanches. More frequent forest fires and forest insect outbreaks could lead to habitat loss or changes that result in increased predation on caribou. Warming temperatures could also result in more favourable conditions for diseases and parasites that affect caribou.

While scientists work to predict the effects of climate change, we can’t anticipate every detail of how species will adapt to these changes, nor how the changes will ripple throughout ecosystems. Parks Canada researches and monitors wildlife and habitat in Jasper to understand the potential impacts of climate change and help us adapt our efforts over time.