Progress towards the experimental reintroduction of woodland caribou to Minnesota and adjacent Ontario

Abstract: Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) are native to Minnesota but started to decline in the mid 1800s and disappeared from the state by 1940. Their demise had been attributed to extensive timber harvest and ovethunting; but more recently mottality from the meningeal worm, Parelaphostrongylus tenuis, carried by white-tailed deet (Odocoikus virginianus), and increased prédation by timber wolves (Canis lupus) and black bears (Ursus americanus) have been sug-gested as additional causes. We describe a current initiative to explore feasibility of restoring caribou to the boundary waters region of Minnesota and Ontario. Feasibility studies have been conducted under the guidance of the Notth Central Catibou Cotpotation (NCCC), a non-governmental organization with representation from relevant state, fed-eral, Native American, and Canadian agencies. Results indicate a) Within Minnesota the most suitable site for wood-land caribou lies within the eastern sector of the Boundaty Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), and this is contiguous with a similarly suitable sectot of Ontario's Quetico Provincial Park: Together these comprise the re-commended 1300-km2 Boundary Waters Caribou Region (BWCR); b) Vegetation in the BWCR has changed little since the 1920s when caribou were last present other than effects of fire suppression; c) Level of white-tailed deer, hence the meningeal worm, is so low in the BWCR that this factor is unlikely to impede survival of re-introduced caribou; d) While wolf numbers within the wider region are relatively high, their impacts may be minimized if caribou are released in small, widely scattered groups; in addition, an abundance of lakes with islands affords good summer-time prédatio