One of the March 2024 sites for caribou scat collection in or near Wapusk National Park/Parks Canada
A new pilot project in northern Manitoba is collecting scat to gain insight into the caribou that migrate to Wapusk National Park and the greater Wapusk ecosystem each winter.
For two days in March, Parks Canada and a team of scientists headed out to the frozen terrain in search of scat. From a helicopter, they searched for animals, tracks and evidence of digging for lichen or “cratering” for daybeds. They touched down briefly when they spotted something — always mindful that they were in polar bear country.
They also “looked for opportunistic samples” while on about eight snowmobiling trips that month, according to Russell Turner, an ecosystem scientist with Wapusk and the Manitoba Field Unit.
Using rubber surgical gloves, protective “whirl” bags and site bags, the team collected and labelled about 170 scat samples. “We’d try to get 20 to 30 pellets per sample,” Turner explained. “I would say the pellets are about the same size as a chocolate-covered raisin.”
Caribou scat searchers in Wapusk National Park included Parks Canada’s Russell Turner, Government of Manitoba’s Joanne Kennah, York Factory First Nation’s Darcy Wastesicoot and Parks Canada’s Jesse Shirten/Parks Canada
The samples are currently stuffed in a freezer in Churchill waiting to be shipped to Environment and Climate Change Canada in Ottawa for DNA analysis.
The goal is to quantify genetic diversity metrics to better understand the ecological and evolutionary patterns in the Greater Wapusk Ecosystem and to answer questions relevant to the conservation of the declining local caribou population.
Parks Canada is co-monitoring with partners like the Manitoba Métis Federation, University of Saskatchewan, Government of Manitoba, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and York Factory First Nation. This project also relies on EcoGenomics, a partnership between Trent University and ECCC to support caribou genomics research in Canada.
A keystone species, caribou are an essential part of the ecosystem and vital to northern Indigenous communities for food, clothing, tools and more. But populations are in decline across much of Canada.
A large male caribou is captured on a trail camera in Wapusk National Park in August 2022/Parks Canada
In Wapusk, caribou belong to either the barren-ground or eastern migratory population.
Within the eastern migratory population, the Cape Churchill herd is the most common type of caribou found in Wapusk. The herd has fluctuated between 1,000 and 3,000 animals for 25 years. It’s a unique forest-tundra ecotype with a large portion of it range contained within Wapusk. It winters in the southwestern portion of the park’s boreal forest to shelter from harsh subarctic winters. In summer, the herd migrates nearly 120 miles to its calving grounds on the tundra near the northern shores of the park at Cape Churchill.
From the barren-ground population, the Qamanirjuaq herd migrates into northern Manitoba and can occasionally be found as far south as the park. This herd had an estimated 288,000 caribou in 2017, down from 500,000 in 1994 despite seeming to have a healthy population. It lives in portions of Manitoba, Nunavut, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. It calves around Qamanirjuaq Lake in Nunavut.
Turner said the focus is on understanding the Cape Churchill herd but it’s possible the scat analysis will show that the Pen Islands herd, and even boreal caribou, are in the region.
Resilient caribou have adapted to living in harsh climates, but are impacted by climate change. Key threats already include earlier snowmelt, later onset of winter and warmer temperatures.
Rising temperatures are likely to increase the period of insect harassment. When caribou are bothered by insects, they tend to form larger groups, and/or try to escape harassment by moving to windy locations. This means they spend more energy trying to avoid insect harassment rather than feeding.
Scientists fear that climate change will lead to an increase in wildfires that can cause significant harm to the herd by eliminating tree cover in the overwintering grounds and by eliminating the main caribou food source on the tundra — lichens. Some studies suggest that it takes lichens almost 75 years to recover from wildfires.
Joanne Kennah of the Government of Manitoba is shown in or near Wapusk National Park with a shopping bag full of caribou scat samples/Parks Canada
Harvesting of caribou is vital to sustaining Indigenous and non-Indigenous northern communities, although it can be a challenge to ensure that sustainable harvesting occurs and that hunters follow proper practices. The exact impact of harvesting is unknown but it’s clear from both scientific and Indigenous Knowledge sources that reducing harvesting pressure helps herds recover.
Scientists suspect that habitat loss is one of the main drivers behind declines in caribou populations.
Habitat disruptions from mining, logging, oil and gas development, power lines, human settlements, cabins, roads and trails can greatly impact caribou. Some studies suggest that caribou will go up to 14 miles to avoid these types of disturbances.
Human structures and features on the landscape can disrupt migration routes, increase movement rates or delay crossing of things like roads, trails and power lines, potentially increasing energy expenditure or reducing the time caribou spend in suitable habitat.
Parks Canada says that caribou are particularly sensitive to human disturbances resulting in habitat loss on the landscape and their cumulative effects are thought to have contributed to the general decline of caribou across Canada.
Female caribou and their calves are shown in Wapusk National Park in June 2021/Parks Canada
