Industrial infrastructure including pipelines and roads creates barriers to caribou migration, fragmenting herds and disrupting calving movements critical to calf survival.
Industrial infrastructure in caribou range forces pregnant cows to take longer migration routes or abandon traditional calving grounds. Increased energy expenditure during critical reproductive periods reduces calf survival and maternal condition. The cumulative effect of multiple infrastructure projects creates a landscape increasingly hostile to caribou welfare and reproduction. Wildlife crossing structures and pipeline routing guidelines can reduce but not eliminate these impacts.