Caribou herds in Canada are discrete populations of seven subspecies that are represented in Canada. Caribou can be found from the High Arctic region south to the boreal forest and Rocky Mountains and from the east to the west coasts. Arctic peoples, including the Caribou Inuit, the inland-dwelling Inuit of the Kivalliq Region in northern Canada, the Caribou Clan in Yukon, the Iñupiat, the Inuvialuit, the Hän, the Northern Tutchone, and the Gwich'in, who followed the Porcupine caribou (also known as Grant's caribou) for millennia, have depended on caribou for food, clothing, and shelter. COSEWIC divided caribou ecotypes in Canada into 12 "designatable units" (DU), an adaptation of "evolutionarily significant units" for purposes of conservation and monitoring that, for the most part, follow previously named species and subspecies (see Caribou Subspecies below). They are: Peary DU1, Dolphin and Union DU2, Barren-Ground DU3, Eastern Migratory DU4, Newfoundland DU5, Boreal DU6, Northern Mountain DU7, Central Mountain DU8, Southern Mountain DU9, Torngat Mountains DU10, Atlantic-Gaspésie DU11, and the extinct Dawson's DU12. The responsibility for the management and monitoring of herds is often shared between Inuit, Métis, and First Nations communities, local hunter and trapper associations, territorial and provincial governments, and the federal government. Based on the most recent 10-year long assessment of caribou populations in Canada, every designated unit of caribou across the country, is in "some kind of danger." More than half of the DUs were endangered. In 2018, vast herds that used to be numbered in the millions, and were not in danger 15 years ago, are now threatened and scientists have recommended that the eastern migratory caribou be listed as endangered, "the highest level of threat". (en)
Caribou herds in Canada are discrete populations of seven subspecies that are represented in Canada. Caribou can be found from the High Arctic region south to the boreal forest and Rocky Mountains and from the east to the west coasts. Arctic peoples, including the Caribou Inuit, the inland-dwelling Inuit of the Kivalliq Region in northern Canada, the Caribou Clan in Yukon, the Iñupiat, the Inuvialuit, the Hän, the Northern Tutchone, and the Gwich'in, who followed the Porcupine caribou (also known as Grant's caribou) for millennia, have depended on caribou for food, clothing, and shelter. (en)