Straight from the Caribou’s (Rangifer tarandus) Mouth: Detailed Observations of Tame Caribou Reveal New Insights into Summer–autumn Diets

High-quality habitats for caribou are associated primarily with lichens, but lichens alone fail to satisfy summer nutritional requirements. To evaluate the summer forage value of plant communities across northeastern British Columbia, where populations of northern and boreal ecotypes of caribou are declining, we observed foraging by tame, female caribou. We compared diet composition with forage abundance to determine forage selection and to quantify forage availability. Deciduous shrubs, not lichens, largely dominated summer diets.