“This is a really exciting opportunity, a novel undertaking in caribou conservation”

A first-of-its-kind caribou breeding facility will move forward in Jasper National Park. 

Ottawa has given its blessing to Parks Canada’s plans to move forward on a new caribou conservation breeding program to support the recovery of southern mountain caribou. 

Minister of Environment, Steven Guilbeault, made the announcement on February 27. 

“Every child in Canada can recognize a caribou from the iconic image engraved on our 25-cent coins,” Minister Guilbeault said. “Preserving this species is an important aspect of our shared cultural and natural heritage in Canada.”

The 65-hectare facility will be constructed on the Geraldine Lakes Road, off of Jasper National Park’s Highway 93A, north of iconic Athabasca Falls. A detailed design plan for the construction of the facility is currently out to public tender.

The program will capture wild caribou from the Brazeau, Tonquin, and other regional herds in Alberta or British Columbia, breed them in the facility and release the animals back into the wild, according to Jasper National Park Resource Conservation Manager, Dave Argument. The goal of the program is to add animals to existing wild herds so that those herds can recover and become self-sustaining.

“We know caribou in Jasper have previously existed in much higher numbers, and that the leading cause of their decline has been predator-prey imbalance, exacerbated by facilitating predator access into the high alpine,” Argument said. 

While measures to mitigate that predator access—such as the restricting of access to caribou habit—have been successful, biologists have not been able to overcome the critically-low number of reproducing females in local caribou herds.

“There aren’t enough females to rebuild those herds naturally,” Argument said.

The caribou breeding program endeavours to fill that gap. Starting in 2025, according to Parks Canada’s projected timelines, the first wild animals will be captured, brought into the facility and bred.

“The rut will happen in the facility,” Argument said.

The plan is to bring in the remaining members of the Brazeau herd—which only contains three or four breeding females— into the facility.

“At this point the Brazeau herd is at such low numbers that it won’t persist into the future,” Argument said. 

After successful breeding and 18 months of in-facility rearing, young females will be released into Jasper National Park’s Tonquin Valley, where they’ll have the chance to mix with wild animals.  

“The first sign of success will be the survival of released animals into the wild,” Argument said.

The cost of the program was initially pegged at $24 million, and according to Parks Canada, the Government of Canada has invested that much through the Nature Legacy Fund to support caribou recovery in Jasper National Park. But given the rapid increase in material cost, inflation, labour shortages and supply-chain challenges, costs are anticipated to increase.

“Cost estimates for the conservation breeding program will be refined and updated once a construction contract is awarded and planning progresses,” a spokesperson said.

Argument said beyond the importance of Parks Canada’s commitment to reversing biodiversity loss, the caribou breeding program will facilitate an incredible visitor experience.

“I imagine a future where you have a herd of up to 200 animals living in the environment, I think it’s going to be an absolutely spectacular opportunity for Canadians to see the fruits of that labour and experience wild southern mountain caribou in Jasper,” he said.

In December, Parks Canada announced it had reached agreements with commercial outfitters in the Tonquin Valley, “to purchase all infrastructure and non-moveable assets and to end their licences of occupation.”

Argument said the focus at this point is on building up the Tonquin herd, but he could envision a future where herds which have been extirpated, such as in the Maligne Valley, are built up as well. 

“We’re excited to be at the forefront of helping to reverse the biodiversity crisis that we’re experiencing globally. It’s a really neat chance for Jasper as a park and as a community to be part of the action in saving a really special species.”

Construction of the facility may impact foot and bicycle traffic on the Geraldine Lakes Road but access to the Geraldine Lakes trail and the Fryatt Valley will not be impeded, Argument said.

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com