Fate of the Caribou: Movements, Memory and Coproduction of Knowledge

Caribou and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) are perhaps the single most important terrestrial animal in the Arctic: an ecological keystone that is also of incalculable material and cultural importance to circumpolar Indigenous communities. Their migrations, spanning the northern edges of the boreal forests to the coastal tundra, are the largest movements of a terrestrial mammal in the world. Even as the Arctic warms and anthropogenic impacts accelerate, the global population of migratory caribou has declined - in some places precipitously - and their ranges and movement behaviors have undergone dramatic contractions and shifts. We are engaged in a multidisciplinary, large-scale effort to study the causes and consequences of these range shifts and population declines. I will present some of our findings and approaches with an emphasis on the ways our work is guided by the knowledge and interests of our Indigenous partners. I will also discuss novel approaches to studying the role social cognition and spatial memory in understanding how wide-ranging animals can adaptively navigate a dynamic and rapidly changing environment.