Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have been travelling across the NWT, the topic of caribou comes up with a lot of people. The more people I talked to, the more I became interested in what was happening in the Deh Cho in this area. After doing research, I found out the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is doing studies with boreal caribou in the Deh Cho.
Mr. Speaker, it was initiated in 2004 with the deployment of 10 satellite collars on adult female caribou at the request of, and after consultation with, Sambaa K'e Dene Band.
I am happy to say that there are extensive consultations in response to requests from other registered First Nations, and have increased the study area and number of First Nations partners in this study.
From looking at the Dehcho Boreal Caribou Study Progress Report, which was completed by April 2016, a total of 145 collars have been deployed on adult female boreal caribou.
Mr. Speaker, in the report, the department studies talk about the daily movement patterns of collared female caribou, which determines when and where a female boreal caribou calved or not. The great thing about using movement data is the department does not need to use the aerial survey, which helps reduce disturbance during the calving period.
Mr. Speaker, as seen from the high number of births and pregnancies from the collared females, this implies that capture and wearing a collar has not prevented females from becoming pregnant nor bearing calves. This is good to hear as they continue to study and monitor the caribou in the Deh Cho.
Mr. Speaker, I have to say the department and regional staff are doing a great job of studying the caribou in our region. It is very interesting to see the home range of the caribou in the Deh Cho.
Mr. Speaker, I was impressed that, in January 2016, the department was part of a cooperative inter-jurisdictional project that had the first aerial wolf survey conducted in the Deh Cho. This information is helping the department with their caribou study.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the department for doing a great job and encourage them to continue doing it. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.