Alaska Highway no road to recovery for Yukon caribou herd

Wolves and hunters are common foes ofcaribou, but Yukon's Southern Lakes herd has another formidable threat the Alaska Highway.

"In terms of human-caused mortality in this herd, vehicles are the number one cause of death," said Yukon government biologist Lars Jessup.

"It just happens that the road bisects their high-quality winter range. We builta road right through where they like and they need to live."

Jessup says it's not a new problem, but the roadkill numbers have been climbing in recent years. On average, he says, about seven caribou in the herd are killed each winter on the highway.

That may seem negligible in a herd of hundreds. But Jessup says cows tend to be hit more than bulls, and that has a bigger impact on the herd's population.

"One cow is worth about three bulls, if you wanted to do the math," he said.

The worst stretch of highway for the herd is between Judas Creek and Jake's Corner. Jessupsays that area has some of the best habitat for caribou, on both sides of the highway, and the animals are on the move there all winter.

Recovery efforts

The Southern Lakes herd has been the focus of an ongoing recovery effort since the 1990s. There has been no licensed hunting of the animals since then, and First Nations have also voluntarily restricted their harvest.

The herd is now estimated to be about 800 to 1,000 animals in size, up from 400 in the 1990s.

"There's been a lot of effort, a lot of sacrifice, and a lot of money spent on these animals. And we have managed to get the herd climbing up, and the vehicle collisions are just taking away from the potential for growth for the herd," he said.

There are warning signs on the highway, and Jessup urges drivers to pay attention to those. They've been installed in areas where most collisions have happened, "and they do mean a real risk," he said.

Some signs also have aphone number to call, if a driver does hit an animal. Jessupsays it'srequired by law to report any collision with wildlife, and it helps officials to know the circumstances around everyaccident.

"That's information that we don't really get right now," he said.

"It's very useful we do try to adjust our signage and other strategies around mitigations of these issues, and it's hard when you don't have the full picture."