A caribou calf is shown in the Tonquin Valley of Jasper National Park/Parks Canada, Lalenia Neufeld

Canada will move forward on a new caribou conservation breeding program to support southern mountain caribou recovery in Jasper National Park. The program aims to rebuild dwindling caribou populations that are too small to recover on their own.

Parks Canada is now taking the first steps toward implementing this first-of-its-kind caribou conservation breeding program. Steps include constructing a breeding facility in Jasper, establishing collaboration agreements with Indigenous partners, continuing discussions with federal and provincial partners to determine the best approach to source additional caribou from other populations, and developing more detailed operational plans to ensure the health and well-being of animals involved in the program.

Parks Canada took into consideration comprehensive research and consultation before deciding to move forward with the program. Guidance from experts in caribou ecology and conservation breeding, discussions with provincial jurisdictions, feedback from Indigenous partners, stakeholder and public consultations and a detailed impact assessment informed this decision.

Efforts to protect caribou and critical habitat for caribou in the Alberta park are part of a broader effort by federal and provincial governments and Indigenous partners, peoples and communities to support the recovery of caribou across Canada.

"Every child in Canada can recognize a caribou from the iconic image engraved on our 25-cent coins,” Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, said in a news release. “Preserving this species is an important aspect of our shared cultural and natural heritage in Canada.”

A planning sketch shows how Jasper's conservation breeding center will look/Parks Canada, McElhanney

Budget 2021 has made over $24 million ($18 million USD) available through the Nature Legacy program for caribou conservation initiatives in Jasper. It's the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies and part of UNESCO's Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site.

Female caribou typically have their first calf around age three. It is very rare for a caribou to have more than one calf. Caribou that live in Jasper are part of a subgroup of woodland caribou called southern mountain caribou. Many southern mountain caribou herds are small and endangered. There are now three populations in Jasper — Tonquin, Brazeau, and À la Pêche. There have been no signs of the Maligne population since 2018.

Southern mountain caribou is one of six species identified by federal, provincial, and territorial governments as a priority for Pan-Canadian conservation action. This priority status is based on their ecological, social, and cultural value to Indigenous peoples and Canadians. Caribou recovery can significantly support other species at risk and overall biodiversity within the ecosystems they inhabit.

Conservation breeding programs prevent animal species from becoming extinct and help in their recovery. Conservation breeding involves capturing a small number of wild animals, breeding them in captivity, and releasing their offspring back into the wild to increase populations of endangered wildlife.

Parks Canada plans to begin building the center this year, capture wild caribou from local herds and move them into the breeding centre, and release young animals born in the center each year into the Tonquin herd of wild caribou. The center — which could be ready for caribou as early as 2025 — will be in the park, about 30 kilometres (18 miles) south of the Jasper townsite along Geraldine Fire Road.