Porcupine caribou

Common card · No. 464271

The Porcupine caribou is a herd or ecotype of the mainland barren-ground caribou (Rangifer arcticus arcticus, syn. R. tarandus groenlandicus), the subspecies of the reindeer or caribou found in Alaska, United States, and Yukon and the Northwest Territories, Canada. Migratory caribou herds are named after their calving grounds, in this case the Porcupine River, which runs through a large part of the range of the Porcupine herd. Though numbers fluctuate, the herd comprises about 218,000 animals (based on a July 2017 photocensus). They migrate over 1,500 mi (2,400 km) a year between their winter range and calving grounds at the Beaufort Sea, the longest land migration route of any land mammal on Earth. Their range spans the Alaska-Yukon border and is a valued resource cooperatively managed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Canadian wildlife agencies and local aboriginal peoples. The caribou are the primary sustenance of the Gwichʼin, a First Nations/Alaska Native people, who traditionally...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Dean Biggins (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), Public domain