If bagging a caribou in Quebec was ever on your bucket list, you’d better think about booking your trip now, as the 2017-18 caribou season may be the last time you’ll ever be able to hunt them. In order to foster the sustainability of the declining populations, the government of Quebec announced its decision in late December to close seasons on the last remaining huntable herd of migrating caribou, the Leaf River herd, located in the northern part of the province.
With the population of the Leaf River herd estimated at fewer than 200,000 animals, the Quebec Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks, in a December press release, called the situation “worrying,” and provided no timeline as to when hunting seasons may re-open, only saying that they would be closed “for an undetermined period.”
Though research studies are ongoing, the leading cause of the decline appears to be the effects of climate change and changes in migration patterns, not hunting, according to the Quebec Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks.
