Mark Bradley
Current and historical population estimates
Jasper National Park
Map description
A map of Jasper National Park and northern Banff National Park, showing the relative proportion of caribou using habitat in the national parks and the approximate population sizes.There are 4 caribou herds in Jasper National Park: the À la Pêche in the north and the Brazeau, Maligne and Tonquin in the south.
The Tonquin and À la Pêche herds have been stable or increasing in size since 2015. There are approximately 47 (43 to 50) caribou in the Tonquin herd. The À la Pêche herd is estimated to include as many as 250 caribou, with about half of them spending part, or all, of the year in Jasper National Park.
The last 3 known caribou in the Brazeau herd were relocated to the Parks Canada Conservation Breeding Centre in March 2025. No caribou remain in the Maligne or Banff caribou herds.
Historically, there were more caribou in more areas of Jasper National Park
It is difficult to know exactly how many caribou used to live in Jasper National Park. Caribou spend most of their time in remote areas, and regular, yearly counting and monitoring only began in the 2000s. However, Indigenous, archaeological and written records show that caribou herds used to be much bigger and roamed throughout more areas of the park.
Park management practices of the early 1900s are the root of the problem
Caribou avoid predators by living where predators and other ungulates rarely go, which works well when predator numbers are low.
Many woodland caribou populations in Canada have declined due to old-growth forests being fragmented or altered by industrial development. These changes create better habitats for elk, deer and moose, which attracts more predators.
In Jasper, rather than landscape changes, wildlife management practices in the early years of the national park led to decades of increased predation on caribou.
Elk were brought to Jasper from Yellowstone National Park in 1920
When 88 elk arrived in Jasper, a predator-control program was in place to keep wolf numbers very low. With few predators, the elk population soared to nearly 3,000 by 1935. There were an estimated 200 to 650 caribou in Jasper at that time.
Predator-control stopped abruptly in 1959
When predator-control practices ended, wolves found plenty of elk to eat, and their numbers quickly increased. As competition between wolf packs grew, they expanded their territories. Wolves moved from valleys where their preferred prey of elk, deer and moose are found, to higher elevations where caribou live.
The wolf population stayed high between 1959 and 2014
The elk population eventually started to decline to more natural levels due to the large number of wolves in the park. Caribou populations declined too, but to a much greater degree. Caribou are less common than elk and reproduce more slowly. By the 1980s, the caribou population in Jasper had dropped to as few as 200.
Parks Canada acted to reduce many of the influences on caribou decline
Woodland caribou were recognized as a threatened species in Canada in 2003
As we learned more about how predators and prey affect each other, Parks Canada took action to minimize human influence on elk and wolf populations. This included moving elk away from town, where they sought safety from predators, and removing roadkill from places where wolves could find it for an easy meal.
Parks Canada took steps to reduce threats to caribou in Jasper National Park
Taking these steps created better conditions for caribou survival and recovery. Decades of increased predation, however, had already pushed Jasper caribou herds to near extinction by the time wolf populations declined to more natural levels in 2014.
The Canada National Parks Act and Species at Risk Act protect caribou and their habitat. Starting in 2006, Parks Canada implemented the following actions in Jasper National Park:
- changed how we disposed of roadkill so that wolves can no longer access it and artificially supplement their diet, preventing unnatural predator population growth
- closed occupied caribou ranges in winter, so human trails and roads don’t give wolves unnatural and easy access to caribou habitat
- discontinued cross-country ski track-setting and the use of snowmobiles (for park or outfitter operations) in caribou habitat, to prevent wolves from using packed trails to access the herds in winter
- approved Marmot Basin Ski Area’s site guidelines and long-range plan, which reduced the ski area’s leasehold by 17% and returned 118 hectares of wilderness habitat, and put limits on ski lift development
- prohibited bicycles, dogs, and the landing and takeoff of hang gliders and paragliders in caribou habitat, to avoid disturbing caribou
- prohibited trail development, limited the number of random camping permits available, and reduced random camping group sizes in caribou habitat
- provided guidelines for aircraft flying over wildlife in alpine areas of the park
- set up reduced highway speed zones and warning signs in areas where caribou are known to cross the road, to protect caribou from traffic accidents
- ongoing assessments of projects, including prescribed fire, for their impact on caribou and caribou habitat
- ongoing monitoring of wolves, elk, deer, and caribou to understand changes in their populations
- ongoing research and monitoring to understand the potential for large-scale habitat changes caused by fire, forest insects, climate change, human activities, the introduction of non-native species to an ecosystem, or wildlife management practices
Caribou numbers steeply declined between 2000 and 2015
As populations get smaller, they become more vulnerable to natural threats such as predators, disease and accidents. The last 5 Banff caribou died in a 2009 avalanche. The number of caribou among the Brazeau, Maligne and Tonquin herds dropped from 150 in 2000 to fewer than 50 by 2015.
Caribou herds began to stabilize at low numbers in 2015
The Tonquin herd increased from a low of 28 caribou in 2015 to 50 caribou in 2022. This positive trend indicates that many threats have been reduced and conditions for caribou have improved.
The Brazeau and Maligne herds were already at near-extinction levels and remained in very small numbers until the last 3 Maligne caribou disappeared in 2018.
Current conditions in Jasper National Park can support larger caribou populations
Jasper National Park has abundant habitat for caribou
The park provides a unique, protected space where southern mountain caribou herds may have the best chance of recovery and long-term survival. About 86% of the land in Jasper National Park is critical habitat for caribou. Neighbouring protected areas also support caribou, including Mount Robson, Mount Assiniboine, Hamber, Kakwa, and Willmore provincial parks.
A healthier balance between predators and prey has been restored
Wolf and elk populations have dropped and stayed at low levels, which reduces the pressure of hunting and competition on caribou. There were an average of 1.6 wolves for every 1,000 km² in Jasper between 2017 and 2024, about half the density compared to 2009 through 2016. The number of elk in Jasper has consistently been around 300 since 2015, down from over 1,000 in the early 2000s, and is not expected to change significantly in the future.
Conservation efforts have lowered threats
Parks Canada protects and reduces disturbances to caribou and their habitat. Monitoring and research are ongoing to understand the risk of predation on caribou, as well as the impacts of our conservation actions, climate change and other uncertainties.
The most significant threat to caribou in Jasper National Park today is the effect of small population size. Too few calves are born to a small number of breeding females each year, making the Tonquin herd’s survival precarious and the Brazeau herd’s recovery impossible without help.
Parks Canada’s caribou conservation breeding program is working to rebuild caribou herds
With stable populations in the À la Pêche and Tonquin herds and good ecological conditions, Parks Canada is working to rebuild the Tonquin herd, and eventually the Brazeau and Maligne herds, by increasing the Jasper population through conservation breeding.
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