Porcupine caribou herd plan in the works

Northern Canadian leaders have given themselves two months to work out a plan for the Porcupine caribou herd, which is believed to be in decline.

The premiers from the Yukon and the Northwest Territories, as well as First Nations chiefs, met behind closed doors Friday in Whitehorse to discuss the herd, which has a range in both territories.

"This is actually the first time that the parties have actually met in 25 years. The last time the parties had all met was to sign off the Porcupine Caribou Management Agreement," Vuntut Gwitchin Chief Joe Linklater, who called the "caribou summit," told CBC News on Monday.

"We've given them until March 31 to try to come up with a common position."

The Porcupine caribou herd is considered the largest herd in the Yukon, but government wildlife officials have estimated the herd to have between 90,000 and 100,000 animals.

In the 1980s, researchers counted about 178,000 caribou in the herd. However, no one has been able to complete an accurate census for the past seven years.

In September, the Yukon government put temporary hunting restrictions in place for the Porcupine caribou herd, requiring all hunters to report their kills and prohibiting aboriginal hunters from taking caribou cows.

Linklater said the migrating caribou cross many jurisdictions, so protecting the herd will require political action at the highest levels.

"Hopefully the Northwest Territories, the Yukon government and the First Nation governments can put in place legislation that's going to be common," he said.

While no firm decisions were made at Friday's summit, Linklater said the leaders talked about possibly imposing some hunting restrictions if the herd drops below a certain threshold, such as 45,000 animals.