The Porcupine caribou herd is flourishing

A photo census carried out in July 2010 has shown that the Porcupine caribou herd, the herd that roams northeastern Alaska and the Yukon, Canada, has grown to an estimated 169,000 animals, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced March 2.

“There’s no doubt the herd has grown since 2001. People on both sides of the Alaska-Canada border are pleased,” said Jason Caikoski, assistant area biologist for northeast Alaska.

Caribou form an important resource for people living in the area used by the Porcupine herd.

Most of the aerial photos used for the survey were of good quality and the survey team accounted for all active radio collars in the herd, thus making it likely that few caribou were missed, Caikoski said. Similar surveys between 1992 and 2001 had documented a decline in the herd size to 123,000 animals from a size of 178,000 in 1989. But unfavorable weather conditions, problems with caribou movements and the poor aggregation of the herd resulted in the failure to complete any surveys between 2002 and 2009.

Caribou of the Porcupine herd calve on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

—Alan Bailey