N.W.T. Tlicho cancel fall caribou hunt, unable to find any
'We don’t know what's going on,' says Behchoko Chief Clifford Daniels
The Tlicho have cancelled this fall's community hunt.
People in the N.W.T.’s four Tlicho communities are allowed to hunt 150 caribou from the Bathurst herd every year.
So far, three separate groups have gone out looking for the animals, but haven't been able to find any.
“We don’t know what’s going on,” says Behchoko Chief Clifford Daniels.
“We know that there’s been so many changes in the environment recently. The fire season we had was surreal and the low water levels… we haven't seen it this low ever. You know things are changing and apparently the behaviour and the migration pattern of the caribou has been changing too, I guess.”
This is the second year the Tlicho have cancelled the community hunt.
Daniels says they may organize a hunt of the more northerly Bluenose East and Ashiak herds, after freeze up.
This summer, the N.W.T. government announced an "alarming decline" in the Bluenose-East and Bathurst caribou herds following its annual summer reconnaissance survey.
Talks are underway throughout the territory over how best to respond to the information.
The news comes as the George River caribou in northern Quebec and Labrador and the caribou herds on Baffin Island are also in steep decline. There are fears that those herds could face extinction.