The Western Arctic Caribou Herd continues to decline, now at about a third of its 2003 population, with hunting restrictions likely as part of conservation efforts.

08-03-22 In response to declining numbers of Fortymile and Nelchina caribou, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is taking a more conservative approach to both harvests this fall.

One of the largest caribou herds in North America has declined by nearly a quarter in the past two years, hitting a population level that justifies new hunting restrictions. The news was delivered last week at the annual meeting of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group, an advisory organization with representatives of villages dependent

Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae ("Movi") is a respiratory bacterium that can cause disease in susceptible hosts. Previously thought to be host-restricted to sheep and goat species, scientists have identified Movi for the first time in healthy moose and caribou in Alaska; a bison in Montana; mule deer in New Mexico, and diseased white-tailed deer from the upper Midwest.

The size of a large caribou herd in Alaska's Arctic region has dropped by more 50 percent over the last three years, and researchers who have tentatively ruled out hunting and predation as significant factors for the decline are trying to determine why.

Restrictions on bag limits and season length will start July 1 for both the Western Arctic and Teshekpuk herds, whose numbers are dropping. Restrictions will affect both resident and nonresident hunters.

“While many factors, such as weather, climate change and changes to the historical extent and timing of caribou migration may be contributing to lower harvests by federally qualified subsistence users, the board should act to help ensure that rural residents are able to meet their subsistence need, and to provide for a subsistence priority,” said Thomas Heinlein, acting Alaska director for the Bureau of Land Management, during the board meeting.