Habitat & Protection

The Porcupine Caribou Herd’s range covers over 250,000 square kilometres of northern tundra between Alaska, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Understanding changes to the herd’s habitat or potential impacts of development in the area is important to ensure the sustainable management of the herd.

Taking care of the herd’s range has been an important focus of land managers over the past 50 years. In Canada, two major national parks (Ivvavik and Vuntut) and other conservation areas have been established to protect key habitats. In Alaska, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been an important conservation area to protect the calving grounds of the herd.