Table Of ContentTHE STATUS, ECOLOGY, AND UTILIZATION OF TEE CONTINENTAL
BARREN-GROUND CARIBOU.
(Rangifer arotious arcticus)
by
A. W. F. Banfield
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in the
University of Michigan
1951
Committee in charge:
Professor William H. Burt, Chairman
Professor J. Speed Rogers
Associate Professor . C. 0TRoke
js
Associate Professor George M. Sutton
Assistant Professor Pierre Dansereau
Preface
Although accounts of the barren-ground caribou
have appeared in the journals of Canadian Arctic explorers
for over three hundred years, mystery still surrounds
many aspects of its life history. The remoteness of its
vast range and its mysterious migrations have prevented
the exposition of its habits and ecological relationships.
The caribou is an important factor in the northern economy,
./ith recent increased northern development, there has been
widespread concern over the survival of the caribou. The
Canadian .Vildlife Service, therefore, initiated a study of
the present status and utilization of the caribou in order
to provide a wise management program for this important
natural resource. It was my good fortune to be assigned
the leadership of the investigation.
I wish to acknowledge the helpful editorial
criticism of the manuscript given by Dr. V/. H. Burt and
Dr. H. F. Lewis. I was fortunate in having two scientific
committees: the Doctoral Committee and the Advisory Committee.
From these I received many useful suggestions in the
preparation of this dissertation. I am indebted to Mr.
A. E. Porsild for the identification of plants and to Dr.
V/m. Steere for the identification of certain mosses.
Valuable assistance was rendered by Messrs. <V. A. Fuller,
ii
A. H. Lawrie, F. IvI, Mowat, D, Peterson, V/. E. Stevens
and A. L. 7/1l k during the field studies. Their contri
butions are fully accredited in the text. Finally I
wish to acknowledge the helpful information, supplied u,y
nortnern wrappers, traders, police, pilots, prospectors,
missionaries, Eskimos and Indians. These people gladly
shared their experiences by camp f:ire or wood stove and
helped to fit in many of the pieces in the jigsaw puzzle
of the barren-ground caribou.
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Table of Contents
Page
Preface ii
Introduction 1
Present investigation 4
Itinerary 11
General description of the physical
environment 17
Historical records 25
Former summer range 27
Former winter range 32
Present status 39
Present winter range 39
Present summer range 43
Present status 48
Migration routes 59
Spring migration 62
Midsummer migration 71
Autumn migration 78
Forest fires 87
Railway influence 9°
Changes in caribou range and status 93
Physical description 1°4
Measurements 1°5
Pelage 105
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Page
Antler development 110
Development of antlers with age 113
Annual growth of antlers 115
Dentition 118
Body form 126
storage of fat 128
Range vegetation studies 131
Food requirements 142
Individual behaviour 146
Locomotion 146
Voice 151
Senses 151
Curiosity 154
Diel activity 155
Social behaviour 156
Eerd segregation 165
Rutting behaviour 171
Calving behaviour 172
Calf growth 173
./arning behaviour 174
Ecologic relations * 174
Migration behaviour 184
Vital statistics 191
Sex ratios 193
Annual increment 194
v
Page
Mortality 197
External parasites 198
Internal parasites 211
Bacterial disease 217
Accidents 221
Predation 225
Wolf predation 226
Caribou reaction to predation 237
General considerations 239
Lesser predators 242
Human utilization 244
Hunting methods 245
Caches 265
Uses 270
Human population 281
Analysis of native game returns 289
Summary 294
Recommendations 301
Appendix 1. Herd estimate 304
Appendix 2. Change in status reports 311
Appendix 3» iiigration dates 326
Bibliography 33O
vi
List of Tables
Table Page
1 Record of present caribou herds 50 •
2 Aerial reconnaissance flights records 51
3 Analjrsis of caribou change in status
reports 101
4 Analysis of caribou status and weather 102
5 Measurements of caribou specimens 106
6 Procedure of moult 109
7 Measurements of antlers 114
8 Eruption and wear of teeth 121
9 Eruption and wear of reindeer teeth 124
10 Vegetation, dry hillside, Fort Reliance 135
11 Vegetation, bog, Fort Reliance 13.6
12 Vegetation, tundra, Bathurst Inlet 137
13 Vegetation, dry tundra, Contwoyto Lake 138
14 Vegetation, tundra, Clinton-Colden Lake 139
15 Vegetation, tundra, Musk-Ox Lake 140
16 Analysis of summer stomach contents 143
17 Daily distances advanced during migrations 148
18 Relation between movement and wind
direction 165
19 Segregation of caribou herds 192
20 Annual increment and survival 195
21 Analysis of caribou mortality 198
VI1
List of Tables
Table Page
22 Number of recorded hides traded in NoW.T. 277
23 Caribou products traded at Duck Lake, Man. 277
21+ Total average annual kill 283
25 Number of caribou reported killed by-
European and half-breed hunters and
trappers 288
26 Analysis of native game returns 291
27 Manitoba herd population estimate 304
28 Migration route - Cape Churchill 304
29 Migration route - Caribou River 305
30 Migration route - Hudson Bay Coast 305
31 Migration route - Hudson Bay Coast 306
32 Duck Lake migration route 306
33 Brochet migration route 307
34 Population estimate of Rae herd 307
35 Population estimate of Hanbury herd 308
36 Population estimate of Aberdeen Lake herd 308
37 Population estimate of Yellowknife herd 309
38 Population estimate of Saskatchewan herd 309
39 Population estimate of Athabaska herd 309
viii
List of Illustrations
•
Illustration Page
1 A large herd of caribou resting on G-host
Lake, N. ViT. T; 9
2 Aerial photography of caribou bands 9
3 Aerial routes and camps 16
4 Average annual extreme low temperature 19
5 Average annual extreme high temperature 20
6 Average annual rainfall 22
7 Average annual snowfall 23
8 Former caribou distribution 37
9 Present caribou winter distribution 41
10 Present caribou summer distribution 45
11 Caribou trail through taiga, near Fort Reliance 60
12 Caribou trails on the tundra at Contwoyto Lake 60
13 Spring migration routes 64
14 Midsummer migration routes 73
15 Autumn migration routes 80
16 Locations of burns and caribou in Sask. 89
17 A large burned area near Cree Lake, Sask, 91
18 Diagram of tooth eruption and wear 122
19 Diagram of reindeer tooth eruption and wear 125
20 Comparison of plant coverage at various stations 134
21 An adult cow swimming across a tundra lake 91
22 Chart of diel activity 157
ix
,4
List of Illustrations
Illustration Page
23 Unwary migrating herds of caribou, Ghost Lake,
N. V7. T. 162
24 Bands of cows and calves migrating on the
tundra 162
25 Bands of bulls on a taiga lake following
cows north 167
26 Caribou bands resting on snowbank in summer 167
27 Some vertebrate food chains of the tundra 177
28 Caribou herd on the summer range at Bathurst
Inlet 201
29 Female warble flies laying eggs on t he rump
of a caribou 201
30 A caribou hide stretched on the tundra to dry 203
31 Caribou mandibles showing lesions of
Actinomycosis 203
32 Skulls and bones of caribou washed over
Tyrrell Falls, N. V/. T. 223
33 A pack of four wolves crossing a frozen tundra
pool 223
34 A wolf pursuing a band of caribou, Ghost Lake 229
35 A wolf in the centre of a large herd of caribou 229
36 Former native distribution - 1825 246
37 Eskimo stone and sod drift fence 249
38 Eskimo hunting trench 249
39 Eskimo kyak of caribou hides with spears 256
40 Bull caribou speared from the kyak 256
41 Eskimo skinning caribou 257
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