PR (Wolf 2020): 106 - Wolf Technical Feasibility Assessment – Options for managing wolves on the range of the Bathurst barrenground caribou herd.

The current decline in the Bathurst barren-ground caribou herd has led to strong public concerns about the future of the herd. Comprehensive planning for both range and herd management is currently underway. Harvest restrictions started in 2010 and reached a quota of zero by 2017 in the Northwest Territories. Without a Bathurst caribou harvest, there are strong concerns over food security and lost chances to transfer traditional knowledge and experience between generations. In 2015, adult and calf caribou survival in the Bathurst herd were still low and, despite a decline in wolf numbers, wolf predation likely accounts for a high proportion of caribou deaths. Importantly, if current environmental trends and caribou population dynamics continue, and if no additional management is implemented, e.g. wolf management or land use planning restrictions, the Bathurst herd is expected to continue to decline. Unfortunately, implementation of management initiatives does not always guarantee a reversal of population trends.
The Wolf Feasibility Assessment Technical Working Group (WG) was formed to compile information about wolf management options and their risks. These options are to be provided to management authorities, who in turn, and depending on their decisions, will submit specific management proposals for review in a public forum to allow for further discussion. The WG examined options for reducing wolf predation through lethal and non-lethal removal of wolves. Each option was reviewed under four criteria: humaneness, cost efficiency, likely effectiveness, and risks and uncertainties. The main text of this document was kept relatively brief with details provided in appendices. The WG applied detailed criteria to assess the humaneness and welfare of each option as well as examining the relative cost, while acknowledging that more details will be required for specific proposals. Risks include the limited information about wolf numbers and predation rates, and overlapping distribution of Bathurst caribou with neighbouring herds in recent winters. The overlap may locally increase caribou and wolves, but, in spring, the herds separate and return to their calving and summer ranges, and the wolves typically return to their dens on the herd’s summer range.
Through evaluation of technical opinions and computer modelling, the WG found that removing about 124 wolves in the first year and maintaining low wolf numbers for 5 years, gives the highest likelihood of halting the Bathurst herd’s decline and starting it toward recovery. Although the options are evaluated individually, combinations of options may have an increased probability of success.