Last caribou to roam lower 48 US states all but extinct: 'The herd is functionally lost'

[turbinetree]

The last remaining herd of caribou to roam the contiguous United States is believed to be on the brink of disappearing, after an aerial count suggested that only three members survived the winter – all of them female.

The South Selkirk herd were once part of a larger population of southern mountain caribou whose habitat spanned much of the Pacific Northwest. But human activity – from hunting to logging and snowmobiling – has forced the population to break off into small herds.

By 2009, the Selkirk herd was estimated to have about 50 members, living in an ecosystem that stretched from British Columbia to Washington and Idaho.

Seven years later that number had dwindled to 12, despite decades of efforts to save them. This week, biologists with the provincial government of British Columbia suggested just three members of the herd remained.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/19/caribou-south-selkirk-us-canada-extinction

Human activity....................

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Did the Trump boys go there? I bet they each have caribou antlers

In their trophy rooms.

[turbinetree]

2. Or that doofus flying in a helicopter Zinke, blasting away

since he likes to eliminate the Endangered Species Act....................

[RandomAccess]

3. So sad

I hate what we're doing to this perfectly beautiful planet, all its beauty, natural resources and creatures. The scope of the destruction is mind-boggling.