Close Encounters of the Fatal Kind: Predators and Landscape Features Associated with Central Mountain Caribou Mortalities | Webinar

caribou bones with a ruler for scale

In western Canada, human-caused disturbances are linked to increased mortality risk for declining caribou populations. To investigate predation-caused caribou mortalities and assess the influence of disturbance features on predation risk, we visited caribou mortality sites in the Narraway and Redrock Prairie Creek caribou ranges and analyzed caribou GPS collar data from 2008-2015. Our results indicate direct relationships between linear disturbance features and caribou predation risk, with potential applications for focusing restoration and habitat management.