5 transplanted B.C. caribou die
About 25 percent of the mountain caribou transplanted from northern B.C. to the south have died.
In early March, government biologists moved 19 mountain caribou from Dease Lake to the Kimberley area in the hopes of bolstering the dwindling south Purcell caribou herd.
But four of the 19 transplanted caribou have been killed by cougars and one plunged into a creek.
"We did expect there would be some mortality," said project manager Steve Gordon. "We were hoping they would stay in the higher habitat where there would be a much lower predation risk, [but] some have moved down and succumbed to cougars."
Gordon says the transplanted caribou are investigating their new habitat. Some, he said, have strayed down from deep mountain snow and that's made them susceptible to cougars.
"It's important to keep in mind it's too early to tell if this has been a success or not," he said. "We are still within expected mortality rates."
Gordon and the others involved in the transplant hope the surviving transplanted animals calve this spring, bolstering the Purcell herd and proving transplanted caribou can thrive in unfamiliar surroundings.
