Quebec plans to move dwindling caribou herd to Saint-Félicien zoo

Despite conservation efforts by the Algonquin Nation and environmentalists, the Quebec Forest, Wildlife, and Parks Minister Luc Blanchette has decided to relocate a herd of boreal woodland caribou in the Val-d’Or region to the Saint-Félicien zoo.

Blanchette told the CBC he thought the effort to save the herd would be “exceptional.” But the April 20 decision was met with swift opposition from environmental groups, the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, MP Romeo Saganash, and the Cree Nation Government.

The plan is slated to be implemented this coming winter and would see the 15 remaining caribou in the herd chased by helicopter onto a frozen lake and captured one by one before being trucked away to the zoo.

While the herd’s dwindling numbers are alarming, critics say this conservation effort doesn’t address the real problem. Loss of habitat has been identified as the biggest threat to the species. Moving the herd to a zoo does little to mitigate the human impacts responsible for the drastic decline in the woodland caribou population.

If this becomes the norm for addressing loss of habitat, “there won’t be enough zoos,” said Alain Branchaud, executive director for the Quebec branch of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

Oddly, Quebec’s decision came a day after the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society told federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna they would be suing her ministry over the same issue. Their suit will argue that Canada failed to properly implement the Species at Risk Act in regards to the remaining 34,000 boreal woodland caribou in Canada.

“The Quebec government has a responsibility to protect endangered species and have recovery plans in place that address the protection of habitat,” said Nadia Saganash, Wildlife Management Administrator for the Cree Nation Government. “But instead of increasing habitat recovery, the minister chose to put the Val-d’Or herd in captivity for the rest of their lives. This has no ecological value and is certainly not an acceptable conservation measure.”

And while the herd of caribou in question isn’t in Cree territory, the decision sets a troubling precedent. “The government had a duty to consult with the Algonquin,” Saganash told the Nation. “The lack of transparency and failure to consult should be concerning to all First Nations.”

There may also be ethical concerns. In a mysterious 2015 incident, 19 of the then-21 caribou at the Saint-Félicien zoo died. After the loss of their herd, the zoo asked the CNG’s Hunting, Fishing and Trapping Coordinating Committee (HFTCC) to capture migratory caribou in Eeyou Istchee. The HFTCC – a joint committee whose members are appointed by Ottawa, Quebec, the Inuit and the Cree – declined the zoo’s request. That decision forced the zoo to look elsewhere to replace the herd.

“This is what happens when an economist is a minister in charge of wildlife management,” said Saganash. “The zoo is struggling because they lost their caribou herd, and then there’s industry that wants to build roads in the habitat. So for someone with a background in economics, it seems like a logical way to kill two birds with one stone. But for the minister in charge of conservation, it’s an irresponsible decision.”

In the end, said Saganash, it comes down to respecting the animal, Indigenous communities and the land. “If an animal is born in the wild, it should die in the wild. Putting that animal in an artificial setting is not a respectful way to treat an animal and all that it gives to our communities. An acceptable conservation measure would be putting more effort into habitat recovery and conservation.”