Caribou recovery and coexistence with introduced feral reindeer on the Nuussuaq Peninsula (70-71°N), West Greenland
The small native caribou population (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) of Nuussuaq Peninsula was supplemented in 1968 with 10 semi-domestic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus). Hunting was prohibited in the early 1990s, but resumed with a quota of 100 animals in 1996 after the population was estima...
Published in: | Rangifer |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Septentrio Academic Publishing
2005
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1778 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.4.1778 |
id |
ftunitroemsoe:oai:ojs.henry.ub.uit.no:article/1778 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunitroemsoe:oai:ojs.henry.ub.uit.no:article/1778 2023-05-15T15:53:26+02:00 Caribou recovery and coexistence with introduced feral reindeer on the Nuussuaq Peninsula (70-71°N), West Greenland Cuyler, Christine 2005-05-01 application/pdf https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1778 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.4.1778 eng eng Septentrio Academic Publishing https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1778/1658 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1778 doi:10.7557/2.25.4.1778 Copyright (c) 2015 Christine Cuyler http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ CC-BY Rangifer; Vol 25 (2005): Special Issue No. 16; 137-142 1890-6729 Greenland coexistence reindeer caribou density distribution phenotype population Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus Rangifer tarandus tarandus recruitment sex ratio status survey info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2005 ftunitroemsoe https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.4.1778 2021-08-16T15:07:20Z The small native caribou population (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) of Nuussuaq Peninsula was supplemented in 1968 with 10 semi-domestic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus). Hunting was prohibited in the early 1990s, but resumed with a quota of 100 animals in 1996 after the population was estimated to be around 400. Despite local criticism that herd size had increased, managers kept the estimate unchanged and permitted similar quotas for the next 5 years. To ascertain current status of the population, a late winter ground survey for minimum count, recruitment and distribution was done in April 2002 employing local hunters. Data collected included group size, location and animal sex/age. Only two age classes were used; calf (<1 year) and "adult" (>1 year). The 2002 ground survey observed 1164 individuals and a calf percentage of approximately 30%. The bull to cow ratio was 0.32. This data did not allow a calculation of population size, because areas where maximum animal numbers were expected were preferentially sampled. Spatial segregation of these two subspecies is suggested, given the observed and unexpected dissimilar behavior, pheno-type and spatial distribution. If true, then by 2002 feral reindeer had established a successful population, while native caribou had recovered to number several hundred. Genetic sampling is necessary to examine this hypothesis. At current late winter recruitment rates animal density could increase rapidly making both range expansion and genetic mixing likely in future. Since the total non-ice covered area available is about 6000 km2, greater caribou/reindeer densities may not be compatible with sustainable range use. Harvest quotas were increased in 2002 and 2003, and may reduce densities and preserve caribou range for the future. Article in Journal/Newspaper caribou Greenland Nuussuaq Rangifer Rangifer tarandus University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing Caribou Range ENVELOPE(-125.436,-125.436,59.750,59.750) Greenland Nuussuaq ENVELOPE(-51.918,-51.918,66.626,66.626) Rangifer 25 4 137 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Septentrio Academic Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftunitroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
Greenland coexistence reindeer caribou density distribution phenotype population Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus Rangifer tarandus tarandus recruitment sex ratio status survey |
spellingShingle |
Greenland coexistence reindeer caribou density distribution phenotype population Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus Rangifer tarandus tarandus recruitment sex ratio status survey Cuyler, Christine Caribou recovery and coexistence with introduced feral reindeer on the Nuussuaq Peninsula (70-71°N), West Greenland |
topic_facet |
Greenland coexistence reindeer caribou density distribution phenotype population Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus Rangifer tarandus tarandus recruitment sex ratio status survey |
description |
The small native caribou population (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) of Nuussuaq Peninsula was supplemented in 1968 with 10 semi-domestic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus). Hunting was prohibited in the early 1990s, but resumed with a quota of 100 animals in 1996 after the population was estimated to be around 400. Despite local criticism that herd size had increased, managers kept the estimate unchanged and permitted similar quotas for the next 5 years. To ascertain current status of the population, a late winter ground survey for minimum count, recruitment and distribution was done in April 2002 employing local hunters. Data collected included group size, location and animal sex/age. Only two age classes were used; calf (<1 year) and "adult" (>1 year). The 2002 ground survey observed 1164 individuals and a calf percentage of approximately 30%. The bull to cow ratio was 0.32. This data did not allow a calculation of population size, because areas where maximum animal numbers were expected were preferentially sampled. Spatial segregation of these two subspecies is suggested, given the observed and unexpected dissimilar behavior, pheno-type and spatial distribution. If true, then by 2002 feral reindeer had established a successful population, while native caribou had recovered to number several hundred. Genetic sampling is necessary to examine this hypothesis. At current late winter recruitment rates animal density could increase rapidly making both range expansion and genetic mixing likely in future. Since the total non-ice covered area available is about 6000 km2, greater caribou/reindeer densities may not be compatible with sustainable range use. Harvest quotas were increased in 2002 and 2003, and may reduce densities and preserve caribou range for the future. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cuyler, Christine |
author_facet |
Cuyler, Christine |
author_sort |
Cuyler, Christine |
title |
Caribou recovery and coexistence with introduced feral reindeer on the Nuussuaq Peninsula (70-71°N), West Greenland |
title_short |
Caribou recovery and coexistence with introduced feral reindeer on the Nuussuaq Peninsula (70-71°N), West Greenland |
title_full |
Caribou recovery and coexistence with introduced feral reindeer on the Nuussuaq Peninsula (70-71°N), West Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Caribou recovery and coexistence with introduced feral reindeer on the Nuussuaq Peninsula (70-71°N), West Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Caribou recovery and coexistence with introduced feral reindeer on the Nuussuaq Peninsula (70-71°N), West Greenland |
title_sort |
caribou recovery and coexistence with introduced feral reindeer on the nuussuaq peninsula (70-71°n), west greenland |
publisher |
Septentrio Academic Publishing |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1778 https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.4.1778 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-125.436,-125.436,59.750,59.750) ENVELOPE(-51.918,-51.918,66.626,66.626) |
geographic |
Caribou Range Greenland Nuussuaq |
geographic_facet |
Caribou Range Greenland Nuussuaq |
genre |
caribou Greenland Nuussuaq Rangifer Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
caribou Greenland Nuussuaq Rangifer Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
Rangifer; Vol 25 (2005): Special Issue No. 16; 137-142 1890-6729 |
op_relation |
https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1778/1658 https://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/rangifer/article/view/1778 doi:10.7557/2.25.4.1778 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2015 Christine Cuyler http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7557/2.25.4.1778 |
container_title |
Rangifer |
container_volume |
25 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
137 |
_version_ |
1766388550296666112 |