New caribou data just arrived from Arviat, Northwest Territories. We've added the locations of our 5 collared caribou on February 21, 26 and March 2 to the data table below. Look carefully and see if you think the caribou have begun to migrate. Data from one of our caribou is a bit unusual. Which caribou is it and what do you think the data may mean?
You discovered that caribou eat lichens and so we asked, "What preys upon caribou?"
"Wolves, wolves, wolves...", said students from Roslyn, New York, Lexington, Massachusetts and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their answers to this Challenge Question are provided below.
Caribou must always be on the lookout for predators. In the winter months, caribou often leave the forest and move onto frozen lakes during daylight hours. They can keep a watchful eye for wolves from this open vantage point. However this can mean they are out in the open and more exposed to cold.
Fascinating research about the wolves and caribou was conducted by a biologist from Yellowknife, NWT named Mark Williams. In order to design good conservation plans for caribou, he studied the full lichen-caribou-wolf ecosystem.
According to Mr. Williams, the most interesting thing he learned about the wolves that follow barren ground migratory caribou is that they behave very differently than wolves that are territorial. These wolves cannot establish permanent territories because caribou are constantly on the move. The wolves couldn't count on caribou to be in their territory when they needed them. Since there is no other prey in the arctic that would provide enough food for the wolves, the wolves must travel with the caribou.
In the spring, wolves can't make their dens on the open tundra where the caribou are. This is because they can't dig a den in the rock- hard ground of the tundra. Wolf dens are always found near treeline often many many miles away from the caribou. Therefore, in order to feed their pups, wolves must travel great distances from their dens onto the tundra to find and catch their prey. Mark William's research over two years showed that because wolves had to travel so far for food, most wolf pups starved before August.
Because wolves are predators, people sometimes discriminate against them and dislike them. A message from the International Wolf Center accompanies this report. You're invited to contact the Center to learn more about wolves and their conservation needs.
As students at Greenleaf Elementary in Minnesota pointed out, "Besides the animals that eat caribou, the native people who share the caribou's habitat also eat them". In fact, for thousands of years the lives of the original people of the arctic, the Dene and Inuit tribes, were closely tied to the lives of the caribou. As the caribou moved with the seasons, the people moved with them. In our next report we'll describe the many ways caribou enabled these people to survive in the harsh conditions of the arctic. In the meantime, think about this question:
Challenge Question # 27
"Why do you think the average nomadic Inuit family required at least 150 caribou each year for survival?"
Please follow the directions at the end of this report to respond to this question.
Here are the most recent locations of our 5 caribou cows:
Caribou #06978
Jan 17: 61.370 N, 94.056 W
Jan 22: 61.035 N, 94.013 W
Jan 27: 61.370 N, 94.000 W
Feb 01: 61.374 N, 93.978 W
Feb 06: 61.354 N, 94.093 W
Feb 11: 61.413 N, 94.082 W
Feb 16: 61.425 N, 94.135 W
Feb 21: 61.248 N, 94.152 W
Feb 26: 61.450 N, 94.065 W
Mar 02: 61.302 N, 94.198 W
Caribou #06980
Jan 17: 59.952 N, 96.870 W
Jan 22: 59.952 N, 96.870 W
Jan 27: 59.757 N, 96.907 W
Feb 01: 59.730 N, 96.206 W
Feb 06: 59.689 N, 96.194 W
Feb 11: 59.858 N, 95.949 W
Feb 16: 60.070 N, 95.751 W
Feb 21: 60.108 N, 95.417 W
Feb 26: 60.108 N, 95.417 W
Mar 02: 60.108 N, 95.417 W
Caribou #23924
Jan 17: 61.191 N, 105.213 W
Jan 22: 61.195 N, 106.179 W
Jan 27: 61.291 N, 106.899 W
Feb 01: 61.403 N, 107.446 W
Feb 06: 61.714 N, 107.350 W
Feb 11: 61.554 N, 107.157 W
Feb 16: 61.257 N, 106.866 W
Feb 21: 61.297 N, 106.971 W
Feb 26: 60.923 N, 106.308 W
Mar 02: 60.890 N, 105.757 W
Caribou #23925
Jan 17: 59.731 N, 97.201 W
Jan 22: 59.590 N, 97.580 W
Jan 27: 59.766 N, 97.919 W
Feb 01: 59.830 N, 97.957 W
Feb 06: 59.847 N, 98.049 W
Feb 11: 59.859 N, 97.322 W
Feb 16: 59.978 N, 97.232 W
Feb 21: 60.195 N, 96.577 W
Feb 26: 60.302 N, 96.378 W
Mar 02: 60.295 N, 96.442 W
Caribou #23926
Jan 17: 59.303 N, 98.289 W
Jan 22: 59.398 N, 98.382 W
Jan 27: 59.409 N, 98.495 W
Feb 01: 59.821 N, 99.103 W
Feb 06: 59.867 N, 99.197 W
Feb 11: 59.618 N, 97.524 W
Feb 16: 59.695 N, 97.042 W
Feb 21: 59.653 N, 97.028 W
Feb 26: 59.655 N, 96.925 W
Mar 02: 60.248 N, 96.260 W
How to Respond to Challenge Question # 27:
"Why do you think the average nomadic Inuit family required at least 150 caribou each year for survival?"
1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #27.
3. In the Body of your message, answer the question:
Students Answer Challenge Question # 14:
"Now that you know what caribou eat, can you tell us what eats them?"
From MINNESOTA:
These are the animals that eat caribou: Wolverine, Grizzly Bear, and Wolves. Besides these animals, the native people who share the caribou's habitat also eat them. Greenleaf Elementary 0196gel@informns.k12.mn.us
From MASSACHUSETTS:
The answer to the mystery question is wolves. Wolves are the main fpoor@poorhouse.lexington.ma.us
From MASSACHUSETTS:
We have found out challenge question #14. Since we studied wolves last year we found out that wolf packs go hunting and normally attack caribou. So we think that caribou's predators would most likely be wolves. Sincerely, Sarah, Heather, Casey, Kara and Lauren of Estabrook School Lexington Massachsetts esta@cybercom. net
From MINNESOTA:
In the World Book Encyclopedia it says that Northern Indians and Eskimos eat the caribou. They kill the caribou and take out the parts that are good to eat. 4th Grade, Roosevelt Elementary szarn1@roosevelt.isd77.k12.mn.us
From NEW YORK:
This is Ronny and Alex of Mrs. Berger's class in Roslyn, NY. We researched to find out what eats the caribou and learned that the caribou predators are mostly wolves. K12robzj@hofstra.edu
The Next Caribou Migration Update Will be Posted on March 21, 1996.
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