Abstract
From 1991 to 1993, 30 woodland caribou were captured and fitted with radio-collars west of the Williston Reservoir in north central B.C. Monthly radio-telemetry location flights revealed that caribou in the Northern Area, characterized by a complex of mountain ranges, moved greater distances to calving areas than did those in the South, where only one major mountain range exists. In the year of record heavy snowfall for the area, all collared caribou wintered on windswept alpine slopes, while during the below average snowfall year, many caribou remained in forested habitats. In winter, caribou were found to forage on terrestrial lichens in both lowland lodgepole pine flats and on windswept alpine slopes, and on arboreal lichens in upper elevation Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir forests. There are at least 600-700 caribou in the Omineca Mountains.
Highlights
Woodland caribou on the west side o f the Williston Reservoir i n north central B
Seasonal Movements and Ranges Spring Migration Most collared caribou moved off winter ranges inApril to l o w elevation forested areas, some remained on their winter ranges, or moved to other high elevation ranges
Both year and location accounted for a significant amount o f variation i n mean distances moved during spring, with longer distances moved by collared caribou in 91/92 than in 92/93, and with longer distances moved by Northern Area caribou than Southern Area caribou (Tables 1 and 2)
Summary
Woodland caribou on the west side o f the Williston Reservoir i n north central B. W i t h the flooding o f the Reservoir i n the late 1960's, an extensive area of wildlife habitat and forest resources was lost, placing increased pressure on surrounding lands. Conflicts with forest harvesting in the range o f the mountain caribou ecotype, have focused most habitat use studies o f caribou primarily i n the southeastern part o f B. Mountain caribou inhabit areas w i t h deep snowpacks and forage primarily o n arboreal lichens during winter. T h e northern caribou ecotype which resides i n areas withlow to moderate snowdepths and forages primarily on terrestrial lichens, has been the subject of only two major studies i n the province (Hatler, 1986; Cichowski, 1989).
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