Predation

Aren't the Wolves to Blame?

Misinformed arguments have blamed predators – wolves, cougars and bears – for the decline in mountain caribou. Some say the solution is to “control” or “manage” these predators, through killing or sterilization. But it’s not that simple. While caribou scientists agree that predation is the major immediate threat to mountain caribou, habitat loss through alteration is the ultimate cause. Habitat alteration disrupts the conditions under which mountain caribou, and other species including predators, have co-evolved.

Clear-cuts attract deer, elk and moose, because for a few years after logging there is more food for them (low shrubs and herbs). This allows these animals – and their predators – to increase and expand into mountain caribou habitat. Historically, it was not energy efficient for predators to rely on caribou as a main food source, since caribou spread themselves throughout the forest at relatively low densities. But as the ranges of deer and moose increase, predators are encountering – and killing -- caribou more frequently.
Scientists stress that the only way to protect and recover mountain caribou is to protect sufficient old-growth forest habitat and to restore a predator-prey system that does not disadvantage caribou.