A recovery strategy for an exclusively Canadian breed of caribou has been finalized by the federal, Inuit, Inuvialuit and Northwest Territories governments.

A Peary Caribou recovery strategy was released April 29. It details the challenges facing the far-Northern subspecies, whose range overlaps the Arctic archipelago, just barely hitting the mainland. The herd occasionally travels over the Arctic sea ice to Greenland, but is not considered endemic to the area.

These caribou are named after Commander Robert Peary, an American explorer who made several expeditions to the High Arctic and, at one point, claimed to be the first colonizer to reach the geographical North pole, though that has since been disproved.

Overhunting of Peary caribou by the American explorers who named them may have contributed significantly to the subspecies' low population. However, the report also notes sustainable harvests by Inuit and Inuvialuit communities have had little impact on population numbers.

"Much of the Peary caribou range is inaccessible to hunters on snow machines and hunting activities largely take place within 80 km of a given community," the report states. "Additionally, there are only a few communities in the northern-most extent of the Peary Caribou range, with much of the area being uninhabited. For these reasons, Inuit and Inuvialuit harvesting is not thought to be a threat to Peary caribou under current management conditions."

Population estimates were 22,000 in 1987, a drop of more than 50 per cent from an estimated population of 50,000 in the 1950s. The population crashed down to 5,400 individuals in 1996 after a series of heavy ice winters limited food supplies, but has since rebounded to 13,200 counted between 2013 and 2016. Peary caribou were listed as endangered in 2012 but the subspecies was re-assessed as threatened in 2015.

Noting that getting population estimates is extremely difficult due to the remote range of the herd, the report added that conservation efforts were extremely reliant on information provided by hunters and trappers committees throughout the Peary range.

"Communities recognize the importance of surveying caribou on a regular basis, but acknowledge the challenges identified above, as well as the difficulty to see Peary caribou on a snowy background, or identify them when they mix with other subspecies of caribou in the southern part of their range," says the report. "Additionally, adverse weather conditions can hinder or prevent surveys and travel to Peary caribou areas.

"As a result of costly operations and adverse weather conditions, population sampling across the Peary caribou distribution is not comprehensive within a single season, and time between surveys is often lengthy. Local knowledge about the abundance of Peary caribou is generally limited to areas relatively close to the communities."

Because of this, threats to other caribou populations, such as roads, are less of a danger to the Peary caribou, but the real challenge is habitat loss from climate change, notably shorter periods of sea ice for herds to island hop.

Reduced corridors of travel could also put caribou at higher risk of predation from wolves, polar bears and other Arctic predators. Of further concern is increasing marine traffic in the Northwest Passage, which will increase the strength of waves and potentially lead to more open water during critical migration periods.

"Communities are already observing the effects of climate change within the range of Peary caribou, although not all communities are experiencing every impact," says the report. "Observed changes include falling sea levels in some areas, and rising sea levels in others, lower water levels in lakes and ponds, increased vegetation, more frequent icing events, increased wind, increased insects abundance, changes in the timing of ice freeze-up and break-up, and species being observed in areas where they have never been seen before.

"Many Peary caribou would be unable to access the resources they need to survive at specific times of the year without adequate sea ice providing the ability to move between islands, which could lead to the extirpation of caribou from some or possibly many islands. In the absence of multi-island ranges, large populations of Peary caribou might only be able to survive on Victoria and Ellesmere islands because these are the only islands large enough to allow range rotation within the island. Loss of inter-island movements may also increase genetic isolation, leaving caribou less able to adapt to changing conditions."

Another area of concern is the potential of new parasites and diseases to move northward as climates continue to warm. Mineral exploration is currently limited in Peary ranges and leadership of both Inuit and Inuvialuit groups say they would like to keep it that way, noting population declines coincide with periods of mineral exploration, and seismic testing can be highly disruptive to the population. The report notes caribou are particularly sensitive to noise and many communities like Cambridge Bay have established best practices for aircraft, snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles to avoid spooking the caribou.

A report assessing how the strategy is working will be completed in 2030.