Disruptions in climate and its consequences in diminishing food sources and rising pest populations are believed to be behind precipitous drops of caribou herds circling the planet’s arctic rooftop from Alaska and Canada to Siberia. A global survey by researchers at the University of Alberta, published in Global Change Biology, reports that 34 of 43 monitored herds have declined an average 57 percent from maximum numbers of recent decades. Human populations who rely on the migrating animals as a primary food source are also in jeopardy.

This year, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society launched a public video campaign to fight logging and road-building that is further threatening woodland caribou in Quebec, Manitoba and Ontario. Canadian citizens are making their voices heard via a companion letter campaign at www.CaribouAndYou.ca.