The Legault government has decided to postpone until 2023 the capture and enclosure of pregnant caribou in the Gaspé, an extreme measure that was planned to try to save this population on the verge of extinction.
According to information obtained by The dutythe difficult weather conditions would have forced the postponement of this operation, which was originally planned for this winter.
The Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks (MFFP) intended to capture pregnant females from this population, which is limited to a maximum of 32 to 36 animals. The females were to be transported in captivity to two developed sites: one in the Mont Albert sector and one in the Mont McGerrigle sector.
The objective was to protect the fawns, which would have been born in captivity, during their first months of life, to prevent them from being killed by predators. They move more easily thanks to the forest roads, or else frequent the areas where felling has taken place.
The deer were to be captured with a “net launcher aboard a helicopter”, or “on the ground using a tranquilizer gun”, according to information from the MFFP. “The captured animal will be quickly immobilized and put under physical restraint so as to avoid injury, a veterinarian will carry out pregnancy checks using a portable ultrasound device,” the ministry had also planned.
However, the originally planned enclosures will not be built until next fall, so the females were to be placed this winter in an “isolation enclosure”.
Logging
This operation was planned when the Legault government intends to authorize logging in an area that is part of the habitat of the Gaspésie caribou.
According to what the MFFP provides, a “special management plan” is planned to cut trees in an area affected by the spruce budworm, located west of Parc national de la Gaspésie.
The cuts are located outside the critical habitat for the species, last specified in 2007. The felling of trees is however planned within two kilometers of this habitat, in an area identified by the Government of Quebec as part of the caribou’s “frequentation area”.
Caribou in captivity
Last month, the MFFP also announced that Charlevoix caribou have been taken into captivity, after suffering a major decline due to the degradation of their habitat. These are the last 16 caribou in the region and the second herd to be placed in captivity, after that of Val-d’Or in 2020.
“This operation went as planned, and 16 caribou were captured and penned, ie 12 adults (3 males, 9 females) and 4 fawns,” the ministry announced in a press release. The department built a 20-hectare enclosure, or 0.2 km2, to place the last remaining caribou in Parc national des Grands-Jardins.
Moreover, the commission on woodland caribou set up by the Legault government will soon begin its regional consultations. These will be held only in regions where the forest industry is present and the commission has the mandate to propose means of “limiting the socio-economic impacts” of the protection of this endangered species.
“Our mandate is not to develop caribou expertise. We will not become experts on caribou,” argued Commission President Nancy Gélinas when announcing the details of the consultations. Of the three commissioners, none is actually an expert in the case that is at the heart of their mandate.