June 19, 2001  -  Moving On  -  Joe Creek, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

We're waiting for our bush pilot to pick us up and move us west to the headwaters of the Kongakut River. Nearby, a group of 50 caribou is also heading west -- to the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Over the last week, we've seen more than 2,000 caribou trickle from the mountains. We've watched groups of anywhere from 4 to 100 animals pass our camp. Calves, born within the last few weeks, stay close to their mothers. The occasional curious youngster strays from the group.

It's a precarious time to be a calf and not be on the coastal plain yet. In this mountainous valley, there are lots of predators hungry from the harsh winter. We've seen as many as five grizzly bears in one day. We watched two wolves charge a group of caribou. On the coastal plain, there are fewer predators, which gives the newborn calves a better chance of survival. Calf survival is crucial to the long-term health of the entire 130,000-member Porcupine herd. But the caribou haven't reached the protection of the coastal plain yet, and so they keep moving on.



            Return to Reports Index Page