Wildlife Division
Department of Environment & Conservation

George River Caribou Migration Monitoring
by Satellite Telemetry

The George River caribou herd, which numbers in the hundreds of thousands, migrates between forest and tundra in Quebec and Labrador.

During the fall and winter migration into Labrador, the George River herd often overlaps the distribution of non-migratory woodland caribou herds, which are listed as threatened under the provincial Endangered Species Act and the federal Species at Risk Act and are therefore protected from hunting.

Establishing the whereabouts of George River caribou provides wildlife managers the ability to prescribe appropriate hunting seasons while minimizing accidental shooting of protected caribou.

Approximately 50 caribou of the George River herd are fitted with radio collars, which transmit their location via satellite every four or five days. This number fluctuates as new collars are installed, collars become deactivated, or animals die.

The public is advised that retrieval of collar location information occurs throughout the week and these maps are to be used only as a general reference as to the distribution of the George River herd.

Satellite Telemetry Maps of George River Caribou Migrations

Note: Data currently unavailable due to conservation concerns

Weekly updates of caribou tracking map are posted every Wednesday.
Maps are in PDF format

April 1, 2009          High detail     Less detail	March 11, 2009     High detail    Less detail
March 25, 2009      Maps unavailable	March 4, 2009       High detail    Less detail
March 18, 2009     High detail    Less detail	Feb. 25, 2009        High detail    Less detail

 

NOTE: These maps do not represent actual herd distribution. They are intended to provide an approximate idea of caribou migration. Approximately 50 satellite collars are used to track hundreds of thousands of caribou. A caribou equipped with a satellite collar can travel up to 200 km (125 miles) between satellite signal reception and map publication. Detection of a collar provides no information as to the number of caribou in a given sector. These maps should not be used for navigation. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited

For more information:

Department of Environment and Conservation
Wildlife Division
P.O. Box 3014
Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL
A0P 1E0
Tel: (709) 896-5107

Stéphane Rivard
poste 239
Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune-Secteur Faune Québec
Tel: (418) 748-7701

This program has been undertaken by the
Department of Environment and Conservation, Wildlife Division;
the Ministere des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune – Secteur Faune Quebec;
and the Institute for Environmental Monitoring and Research.