Caribou are highly endangered in the lower 48 United States and British Columbia. The remaining population in the Northwest consists of the tiny Selkirk herd, which occupies a small area of northeast Washington, northern Idaho, and an adjacent portion of BC.

Geographic range: Northeast Washington, northern Idaho, southern British Columbia. See our animated map of historic and current caribou range.

What the caribou tells us: In order to thrive, mountain caribou require relatively intact mountain forests. Logging and development have diminished their food supply and habitat. Also, human effects on other species ripple through a complex web of causation to cause unexpected problems for the caribou.

A few years ago, for example, the regrowth from clear-cut logging in the Selkirk mountains provided abundant forage for deer, whose population boomed. This was followed quickly by an increased population of cougars, which were formerly rare in the Selkirks. They began to feed on the caribou and put serious pressure on the remaining population.

How the caribou are doing: Steady in low numbers; unsure in the long-term.

• Stable population: Over the last six years, the population has been fairly stable, hovering around 35. Officials credit this partly to aggressive cougar-hunting that has depressed the local cat population and given the caribou some breathing room.
• More caribou from BC: British Columbia is planning to transplant 60 new animals to the Selkirk herd over the next six years and, if predation stays low and human impacts are minimized, the Selkirk caribou may yet have a chance at surviving, at least in the short-term.

• The bad news: Even in BC, where caribou are more abundant, but still imperiled, caribou range has shrunk dramatically with the increase of logging, development, and other habitat disruption in the Canadian Rockies.

What do do: The only real chance for caribou to bounce back will be improved habitat and more of it; strict conservation for old-growth forests; and careful conservation and restoration in areas that can return to old forest conditions.

Local conservation groups have filed a lawsuit seeking to protect the caribou from the rapidly expanding use of snowmobiles in caribou habitat.

Check the wildlife section of the blog for more on the caribou. 

More resources

Conservation Northwest (formerly Northwest Ecosystem Alliance)

International Mountain Caribou Technical Committee

The Lands Council

Selkirk Conservation Alliance