Peary caribou and barren-ground caribou COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 5

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Distribution

Global range

Anderson (1946) suggested that the caribou from northwestern Greenland north of Kane Basin may be Peary caribou. Banfield (1961) stated that this was definitely so, but the current taxonomic status of the northwestern Greenland population is in doubt. Miller (1991), citing Meldgaard (1986), and summarizing reports of Greenland Inuit, confirmed that small caribou, possibly migrants from Canada, were regularly seen and shot there. The Inuit reported that normally up to 10 (but 100 to 140 in 1990) were taken annually and that caribou tracks were often seen crossing from Ellesmere Island to Greenland. Banfield (1961) suggested that the caribou south of Kane Basin, around Inglefield Bay, may have been intergrades between R. t. pearyi and R. t. groenlandicus, but Roby et al. (1984 cited by Miller 1991) concluded that the Inglefield Bay caribou were environmentally stunted R. t. groenlandicus.

Canadian range

Aside from a possible occurrence in Greenland, Peary caribou occur only in Canada (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Distribution of Peary caribou and the Dolphin and Union herd in relation to the distribution of barren-ground caribou and a small group of introduced reindeer (R. t. tarandus). The boundary between the Dolphin and Union and NW Victoria populations is uncertain.