No caribou protection strategy could have avoided the death of one of the last caribou in Gaspésie last month. “A person who is ill-intentioned, whether there is a strategy or not, they can proceed,” said the Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, on Tuesday.
The elected representative of the Coalition Avenir Québec hopes that the “investigation” launched after the slaughter by poachers of one of the last females of the Gaspé herd will bear fruit.
“It is certain that we will want this investigation to succeed. If there are those responsible, we can identify them, we can sanction them accordingly,” said Mr. Charette, questioned on this subject by The duty this afternoon.
However, the strategy to protect forest and mountain caribou, which he still intends to table by the end of the year, would have had no effect, believes the CAQ minister. “It’s not the strategy that’s going to change everyone’s behavior,” he said.
According to a press release released Monday by the ministry, the caribou killed last month wore a telemetry collar. Wildlife officers seized meat and met with “suspects.”
The latest counts estimate the size of the Gaspésie mountain caribou herd at around thirty animals. Earlier this year, a female had already died while giving birth. No new fawn was added to the group either in the latest count from the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks.
The herd, which remains in the area of Mounts McGerrigle, Albert and Logan, in the Gaspésie national park, has reportedly halved since 2017. Environmental groups point the finger at deforestation, which has created rapid access roads for The predators.
Earlier this year, the Legault government proceeded to capture and enclose the remaining females in Gaspésie. All this so that they can give birth safely.
Minister Charette has already suggested that the caribou protection strategy would include new protected areas, without specifying which ones. It was also before this summer’s forest fires postponed the submission of the document.