Maternity Pen Update
Calving Season – 17 Healthy & Strong
This year’s calves arrived between May 10 and June 6, marking a busy season for our dedicated Pen Guardians. The 17 calves born inside our maternity pen are thriving, healthy, and strong – ready to explore the wild.
Sadly, we did experience a few losses, which has been difficult for everyone involved. One calf was stillborn, and three others passed away due to complications. Each loss is carefully reviewed, and our team continues to learn from these experiences, strengthening our methods to improve future outcomes.
We also faced the loss of an adult female shortly after giving birth. Thanks to the dedicated orphan-rearing protocols developed by Wildlife Infometrics, her calf was successfully cared for and released alongside the others on July 29. Early tracking shows the orphan is moving toward the rest of the herd, and we are optimistic she will fully integrate into the wild herd as she grows.
Wild Calf Survey – 8
In July, we conducted a wild calf survey to help track population trends and assess the effectiveness of our recovery efforts. As in previous years, we observed fewer calves in the wild compared to those in our maternity pen. It’s important to remember that as the population grows, the number of collared females on the landscape decreases, which naturally reduces our comparison pool.
Using telemetry, which relies on GPS and radio collars to follow caribou from a distance, we tracked 20 adult females and confirmed 8 healthy calves on the landscape. Each calf spotted in the wild is a hopeful sign that the herd is rebuilding its strength. These observations give us valuable insights into herd dynamics and guide our ongoing efforts to support a thriving, self-sustaining population.
Release Highlights
- One adventurous adult female made an early escape around July 6 and has safely joined the alpine habitat. Luckily, she did not have a calf this season.
- The herd was soft-released on July 29 (53 days after the last pen calf was born), and within days most of the herd had moved into nearby subalpine and alpine zones.
- The orphan calf, fitted with a GPS collar, is staying close to other collared adults—a promising start to her life in the wild.
By the Numbers
- Adult Females Captured: 25
- Pregnant: 22
- Calves Born Alive: 20 (10 female, 9 male, 1 unknown)
- Adult Females Released: 23
- Calves Released: 17 (8 female, 8 male, 1 unknown)
Special thank you to our funders
The Nîkanêse Wah tzee Stewardship Society could not do its work without the support of many dedicated funders, all of whom are listed on the Partners Page of our website. We’ll be spotlighting them in these newsletters, starting with two of our most loyal funders.
This year we have received three grants from the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program (www.fwcp.ca). These grants support post-operation restoration of our Bickford maternity pen, restoration of habitat for the Klinse-za caribou, and the operation of our current maternity pen (“enhancing caribou survival in the Klinse-Za/ScottE herd area”). FWCP has been a long-standing funder and partner and are great to work with. Thank you FWCP!
The Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (www.hctf.ca) has also been a long-time supporter. Once again this year the HCTF is funding our habitat restoration work in two different areas. We are deeply grateful to HCTF and to the hunters, anglers, trappers, and guide-outfitters of BC whose license surcharges support conservation across the province. Thank you HCTF!
If your company or organization would like to support our work, please contact us via [email protected].