A new study of one of Canada's largest caribou herds seems to confirm fears that it is undergoing a steep and mysterious decline.
The Beverly caribou herd, which roams the tundra from northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan, once numbered 276,000 animals.
But a just-released survey conducted last summer shows the number of cows on the herd's calving grounds has dropped by 96 per cent since 2002.
The number of calves per cow has also dropped to one-fifth traditional levels.
Six out of the seven herds in the western Arctic are shrinking rapidly. No information exists on the seventh.
Scientists can't explain the drops, and suggest climate change, hunting pressure and increasing industrial activity may all play a role.
