ABSTRACT
Demographers predict that the Canadian population will reach the 35 million mark in 2013; this represents a 4% increase over a 5-year period. This is a projection of the results of the 2011 census that shows that the Canadian population is growing at a steady pace. In a similar way, the size of an animal population is a basic demographic characteristic that reflects its general well-being. Consider, for instance, the George River caribou herd in Northern Que´bec and Labrador. Thirty years ago, it was among the most expansive groupings of large mammals on the planet, with more than 600,000 animals. Now the herd has dwindled and is monitored closely. As this is a migratory animal, estimating the herd’s size is a challenge. The current method uses animals marked with GPS collars to locate and photograph the large groups that form during the short nordic summer. A complete enumeration is not possible and final estimates are calculated by “entering the number of caribou found by biologists into an algorithm that determines the herd’s size” as explained in a recent article in a Montre´al newspaper. The statistical model behind this algorithm is detailed in Rivest et al. (1998) and several ways to account for missed animals are available. The estimate for the summer 2012 inventory is 27,600 caribou and protective measures, such as reducing hunting permits, have been taken.
