One-kilometre barrier averts replay of 1984 disaster

Fencing erected after 400 caribou drown

By JOHN THOMPSON

The bloated carcasses of about 400 caribou were discovered last Wednesday, heaped against the rocks beneath Limestone Falls, 100 km south of Kuujjuaq.

The sight brought back memories of 1984, when swift currents carried 10,000 caribou from the same spot in the Caniapiscau River over the treacherous, 20-metre waterfalls to their deaths.

Wildlife officers and village officials worked quickly to prevent history from repeating itself, and within a day erected one kilometre of plastic mesh fencing to prevent more caribou from drowning.

"A repeat of 1984 was a big possibility," said Kuujjuaq's mayor, Larry Watt, who said satellite images of the caribou herd's movement showed it moving "straight for the falls."

"If the fence wasn't put up, there would have been a lot more deaths."

Vallee Saunders, a wildlife officer who helped install the fencing near Limestone Falls, says caribou now appear to be staying clear of the dangerous stretch of river.

Fencing was built after 1984, but only on the eastern side of the river, where caribou usually approach. But caribou migrations change year to year, and this autumn, the animals crossed from the western side.

The loss of several hundred caribou is no big deal in northern Quebec, where region's two herds make up about one million animals. But the loss of many thousand would have been.

Watt recalls, as a high school student, helping to move the thousands of caribou carcasses in 1984. "It was not a pretty sight."

Nor are caribou drownings unusual. A similar number of caribou drowned in a lake near Umiujaq about a month ago, said Saunders.

But hundreds of caribou corpses may taint the Caniapiscau, which feeds into Kuujjuaq River. So the next problem wildlife officers must solve is how to remove the dead animals.

The dead caribou won't be fit for human consumption, but they may end up becoming food for Kuujjuaq's sled dogs.

Share This Story

(0) Comments