Columbia Mountains Caribou Research Project

Project Description:

Beginning in 2003, moose populations were intentionally reduced by increased hunting pressure as an indirect way of reducing wolf numbers — fewer moose on the landscape means wolves have less to eat resulting in fewer wolves. Moose were reduced to a density that approximated what would have existed in the absence of forest harvesting. 

Project Outcomes or Intended Outcomes:

As a result of the moose reduction, numbers of the largest caribou subpopulation within the northern Columbia Mountains stabilized. The population growth rate improved by about 5 units (i.e. from declining by 5%/yr, to stability).