While caribou populations are struggling in Quebec, the government is announcing the arrival of 15 new calves in its captive keeping facilities in Charlevoix and Gaspésie, during the last birthing season of 2024.
Both the calves and the females that gave birth are doing well, according to a press release from the Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs.
In the spring, 18 female caribou were pregnant, including 11 in Charlevoix and seven in Gaspésie. All the females gave birth, but three calves died.
Quebec also has facilities in Val-d’Or, but no females were pregnant there.
These new births bring the number of caribou in Charlevoix to 39, including 20 adults, ten juveniles and nine calves. In Gaspésie, there are now 19 animals, including six fawns. In Val-d’Or, there are no newborns, but there are five adult males and four adult females.
The caribou population has been declining in Quebec for several years and logging is the main cause of this precariousness, particularly due to logging roads that destroy the habitat and promote the displacement of the caribou’s natural predators such as bears and wolves.
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced his intention to impose an emergency decree to protect the species, while he has expressed dissatisfaction with Quebec’s current strategy.
However, the Legault government in Quebec believes that such a decree encroaches on its jurisdiction and will lead to many job losses.
These job losses would result from the projected decline in forest potential.
Across Quebec, the federal decree on caribou would cause a 4.1 per cent drop in forest potential, which is equivalent to 1.4 million cubic metres of wood per year, according to an analysis by Quebec’s chief forester, Louis Pelletier.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews