Team

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has designated the migratory caribou as « endangered » in April 2017. Since, the species’ status is reviewed to be added to the Canadian Species at Risk Act. Such a procedure would force management authorities to protect and maintain its habitat. Thus, the goal of my project is to pursue the characterisation of the wintering habitat of both Eastern Canada migratory caribou herds (Rivière-aux-Feuilles and Rivière-George) by assessing and quantifying the recent changes in their locations. To do so, I will cross a 30 years span telemetric database of over 600 migratory caribous to resources availability, predation risk and weather index. The wintering habitat fidelity will also be assessed by comparing distance between locations of successive winters. Finally, I will investigate the social cohesion of the herds by looking if individuals’ groupings are the same during summer and winter. My results will lead the establishment of management, protection, and conservation measures for the species in Canada.