Tribal efforts to protect the only caribou herd in the lower 48 United States have been dealt a setback.
According to news reports, the
South
Selkirk Mountains herd is down to just six members.
To prevent the animals from going extinct, officials in British Columbia, Canada, will relocate them to a new area in their province, meaning they will no longer be seen in Idaho or Washington.
"Culturally, they are such a significant animal historically, and it is definitely not where we want to be. But it's better then letting the population blink out and lose the genetics entirely,' Mike Lithgow, a spokesperson for the
Kalispel Tribe told CBC News, which first reported the story.
The Kalispel Tribe has been working on reintroduction efforts in Washington. The
Kootenai Tribe has focused on Idaho.
“This is what extinction looks like, and it must be a wake-up call for wildlife and habitat managers in both Canada and the United States,” Joe Scott, Conservation Northwest International Programs Director and a member of B.C.’s Mountain Caribou Recovery Progress Board, said in a
press release.
Read More on the Story
Declining caribou illustrate the challenges of conservation
(The Spokesman Review November 11, 2018)
Six caribou in North Idaho and Washington – the last in the contiguous U.S. – will be relocated to Canada
(The Spokesman Review November 9, 2018)
In final effort to revive herds, 6 remaining caribou to be relocated to rearing pen
(CBC News November 2, 2018)
Join the Conversation
Related Stories
Only
caribou herd in lower 48 United States declared 'functionally extinct'
(April 19, 2018)
Kootenai
Tribe aims to revive only herd of caribou in United States (October 3,
2016)
Kootenai
Tribe to create recovery plan for last wild caribou herd (August 31, 2015)
