Are caribou endangered?

Question

I don't realy give a rip about em, but it's 4 my homework

Answer 1

Not as of yet, but with global warming and the oil companies is Alaska they may one day be endangered.

Answer 2

all I can say is look up the RED caribou in Labrador CND and the Woodland Caribou I believe that you will find the info you need.Remember a generic animal  may not be endangered but certain species in that family can be.such as the black bear is not but the California bear is hopes this helps

Answer 3

Yes and No.  It depends where you are, and whether you use the legal definition of "endangered" or the species definition.

Caribou are a barren-ground species.  That is, their native and preferred habitat is steppe, and on the steppe, their populations are "stable".  Actually, monitoring caribou populations is very difficult because caribou are highly migratory, and the herds periodically disassociate and recombine.  There have been huge population shifts within this species, even to the extent that they have been endangered, then abundant, then endangered, and then abundant, in the same area without man even lending a hand in it.

In the forests, caribou don't do so well, especially if deer are present.  The deer out-compete the caribou, and predator populations enabled by the deer population (like cougars and wolves) have an easier time going after the caribou.  The result is that we tend to see forest caribou populations shrink when deer move in.  Forest caribou are protected as "endangered"; however, these caribou are not a unique species.  They are the same as the plentiful caribou on the steppe, which are not endangered or protected.

As for how the caribou will fair in the future... human predation and/or encroachment is not an issue.  How changing climatic patterns affect caribou is not clear either.  As stated above, their populations are difficult to track, and they range over huge distances.  At the present time, caribou populations seem to be doing well.