Arrow Lakes Caribou Society

The Arrow Lakes Caribou Society is holding the 15 caribou in the Central Selkirk Caribou Maternity Pen at the request of the Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship until mid-September. Typically, the caribou are released from the pen around mid-July, however, that timeline has been extended this year. This holding period is to allow for First Nations consultation and a decision to be made on three potential management options for this herd moving forward.

The three options being considered are:

1. Continuing recovery efforts for the Central Selkirk herd in their native range, including maternity pen operations, along with herd augmentation (bringing in new female caribou from other Southern Mountain Caribou herds), predator management and recreation management.
2. Transferring the penned Central Selkirk caribou to the Jasper National Park Conservation Breeding Centre, where captive caribou are bred and offspring are released back into the wild.
3. Releasing the penned caribou back into the Central Selkirk herd range with no further maternity penning or predator management. Adaptive recreation management would continue, depending on the herd status.

The estimated timeline for a decision is mid-September, which will allow the penned animals to breed in the wild if they are released from the maternity pen under option 1 and option 3, or to breed at the Jasper Conservation Breeding Centre under option 2.

Currently, access to the Kuskanax Forest Service Road is controlled at 600 metres up from Hot Springs Road. Access is currently open but should be limited to reduce disturbances causing undue stress to the caribou during the critical calving and neonatal periods. Slow, quiet, and respectful access is permitted under the direction of ALCS. Sound management in the vicinity of the pen is paramount to minimize disturbance to the caribou.

We are grateful to the community, project partners, and supporters whose commitment makes this work possible. Your continued involvement supports the maternity pen program and contributes to the recovery of the Central Selkirk herd.

For more information about the Central Selkirk Caribou Maternity Pen, visit our website (www.arrowlakescaribousociety.com) and social media pages (Facebook: @arrowlakescaribou; Instagram: @arrow_lakes_caribou) or contact ALCS directly at al.caribou.society@gmail.com.