Alternatives to Collars

Monitoring Caribou

A review of selected technologies for tracking barren-ground caribou. February 2022. Prepared for the Advisory Committee for Cooperation on Wildlife Management.

Currently, collaring of barren-ground caribou is one of the primary tools utilized for monitoring of barren-ground caribou. Collars are considered essential for current population estimate survey methodologies (calving and post-calving methods) but are also used during survival, productivity, recruitment, and adult composition surveys. Collar data inform range use and movement patterns, provide information on herd fidelity, and are used to identify habitat selection conditions and human disturbance effects. All this empirical information feeds into the management decision-making process by the Advisory Committee of the Cooperation of Wildlife Management (ACCWM) alongside the community-based knowledge.

Indigenous groups involved in the Taking Care of Caribou Plan have identified cultural concerns with touching caribou, yet collaring is currently one of the key tools used. Collaring is an invasive, high-risk procedure involving the handling of individual caribou. It is recognized that collaring is risky to the crew and the caribou. Caribou mortalities do occur during collaring. The need for information about the caribou must be balanced with the cultural sensitivities around caribou and potential impacts to individual animals. This has always been a hot topic that needs reassessment. With that in mind, the ACCWM is undertaking a review of the monitoring methodologies currently available for barren-ground caribou.

This review identifies the information currently obtained using collars and examines some possible other methodologies to obtain this knowledge. Methods include both well-tested and utilized survey methods and emerging technologies such as satellite imagery and drones. There are recognized areas for improvement in current methods and opportunities to adopt new technologies, as well as to implement effective community-based monitoring.

Handouts

Below are 7 handouts describing alternative technologies that can be used to monitor caribou, created from information in the above report. Scroll through below or download the handouts here.