Caribou may often be out of sight, but they are never out of mind. Parks Canada collaborates with many groups to protect and recover caribou across the country. Caribou recovery in Canada requires diverse actions that will vary according to the habitat condition and status of local populations.
Southern mountain caribou populations in Alberta and British Columbia have gotten smaller in number over the last fifty years and some herds have disappeared. Mountain caribou ranges include areas of Banff, Jasper, Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks.
Mountain caribou depend on vast and undisturbed habitats. Protected areas like national parks are key for their survival. The network of protected areas in Canada plays an important role in helping to address the impacts of climate change by protecting and restoring healthy, resilient ecosystems and contributing to the recovery of species at risk. Without intervention, the Brazeau and Tonquin caribou will disappear.
For a summary of the reasons caribou have declined in the national park, steps Parks Canada has taken to reduce threats to caribou, and Parks Canada's conservation breeding strategy to rebuild small caribou herds in Jasper National Park, visit https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/ab/jasper/nature/conservation/retablissement-caribou-recovery/elevage-caribou-breeding/retour-caribou-comeback
Conservation Breeding Program
Through the caribou conservation breeding and release program, Parks Canada plans to build a breeding centre in Jasper National Park, capture wild caribou from local herds and move them into the breeding centre, and release young animals born in the centre each year into the Tonquin herd of wild caribou.
