Informing Ygalcka (caribou) conservation with community-based information gathering

The relationships among caribou, moose, and First Nations peoples in southern British Columbia have shifted over recent generations. For the Splatsin people of south-central British Columbia, rapid declines and extirpations of caribou over the past century have severed food, utilitarian, and cultural relationships that endured for millennia. These declines are closely linked to the industrial transformation of forests, which shifted landscapes from intact old-growth interior rainforests that once provided predation refuge for caribou—to younger, regenerating forests that favour moose and sustain higher predator densities. As a result, landscape change and increasing moose populations present challenges for caribou recovery. This study documents Splatsin community values, knowledge, and future visions regarding caribou recovery, moose management, and hunting protocols within Splatsin’s caretaker responsibility area. We hosted a 3-day Ungulate Knowledge Forum in Enderby, British Columbia, in 2022, and conducted 13 semi-structured interviews with Splatsin ungulate knowledge holders and hunters. Thematic analysis revealed strong reliance on moose hunting for wild food acquisition, limited and fragmented knowledge of caribou, and a unified desire to restore cultural relationships with caribou by recovering populations to culturally meaningful levels. This work offers a model supporting caribou recovery and moose management within First Nations jurisdictions.