Caribou, reindeer numbers down worldwide

EDMONTON, Alberta, June 12 (UPI) -- Caribou and reindeer populations worldwide have dropped nearly 60 percent in the last 30 years, researchers at the University of Alberta said Friday.

The report is the first global census analysis of caribou and reindeer, said Liv Vors, a doctoral student who led the research.

The decline, largely brought about by climate change, raises serious concerns for the animals and for people living in northern latitudes who depend on the animals for their livelihood, Vors said.

Pasture lands are turning green before migrating herds arrive, which deprives mothers and calves of the best quality feed, and warmer summers produce more insects, which harass the animals and affect their feeding, Vors said.

An increase in freezing rain during the winter has depleted the quality of the lichens the animals feed on during colder months, and industrial development is encroaching on the animals' boreal forest habitat, Vors said.