Melting snow reveals caribou disaster

Biologists in Alaska have uncovered crushed antlers, mutilated carcasses and hoofs poking out of the melting snow at the base of a slope in the Kenai Mountains, where at least 50 animals died in a late December avalanche.

Much of what remains has been pawed out of the snow and gnawed on or devoured by bears, wolves wolverines and bald eagles, the Anchorage Daily News reports.

Avalanche experts concluded that caribou began crossing the steep, snowy ridge late in December and their hooves triggered an avalanche that swept the animals downhill at speeds approaching 120 kilometres an hour.

Judging by the mutilation, experts say the caribou must have been near the top of the snow slide. Some rolled and bounced about 1,900 feet to the bottom of the treeless slope.

In March, biologists flying in the area picked up mortality signals from six of the 12 radio collar transmitters attached to caribou.

They all came from the base of the snow slide. The beacons are set off when a collar doesn’t move for hours.