Regulation of a large herd of migratory caribou: summer nutrition affects calf growth and body reserves of dams

Abstract

The range used for calving and for the first month of lactation by the Rivière George Caribou Herd (RGH), which peaked at over 600 000 individuals in the mid-eighties, showed signs of overgrazing, in contrast to that used by the adjacent Rivière aux Feuilles Herd. Density of females in the tundra habitat below 600 m asl averaged 11.2 animals/km2 on the overgrazed range in 1988, in comparison with ≈0.5/km2 on the other range. Inadequate foraging conditions during the first month of lactation caused complete exhaustion of fat reserves in females on the poor range; milk production was seemingly insufficient, as calves were lighter and grew at a slower rate than calves born on the better summer range or born in captivity from dams fed ad libitum. Moreover, females on the poor range were shorter and lighter than their counterparts on the good range, illustrating that priority goes to reproduction rather than to growth under suboptimal foraging conditions. Accretion of body fat and protein in RGH females was rapid in autumn, but individuals with a calf at yield accumulated smaller fat reserves than nonreproductive adult females. Condition did not affect ovulation. However, interruption of gestation was suspected in females that were unable to accumulate enough body reserves in autumn or early winter, judging from the progressive decline in the pregnancy rate and in the autumn cow:calf ratio observed for the RGH since 1984, concomitant with the levelling off of the herd. Summer nutrition seemingly regulated the RGH through a combination of decreased fecundity and survival.