Overview

Wolves are harvested as both furbearers and big game in the NWT. Most regions have had a harvest incentive program for wolves since 2010 to encourage more wolves to be harvested to support the traditional economy and NWT harvesters  as well as the recovery of caribou.

Harvest incentives for wolves across the NWT were increased to $200/wolf carcass (skinned or unskinned) for the 2015/16 harvest season in response to community and harvester concerns, declines in barren-ground caribou numbers and to support the traditional economy. This $200 incentive program has continued each year since across the NWT.

What wolf management and monitoring actions are being taken across the territory?

There are three options for harvesters to receive incentives for harvesting wolves:

1. A harvester can bring the entire wolf carcass into an ECC office and receive $200.

2. A harvester can bring a wolf pelt in that has been prepared to traditional standards (i.e. paws and lips intact) and receive $400. If the hunter also processes the skull, they will receive an additional $50.

3. If a harvester brings in a wolf pelt prepared to Genuine Mackenzie Valley Fur Program taxidermy standards, they will receive the following:

• Immediately:   $400
• Processed skull: $50
• Prime Fur Bonus (if the pelt sells for more than $200 at auction):  $350

Please contact your local or regional ECC office for information on specific samples requested from hunters or trappers who legally harvest wolves and provide the associated harvest information. Collection of skulls and other samples helps us to examine the age, diet, and overall health of the wolf population.

How can managing wolf populations help caribou?

Supporting wolf harvesting is one of many actions being taken by the GNWT and our co-management partners to help support our declining caribou herds.

When caribou populations are at extremely low levels, reducing numbers of predators can help increase caribou survival rates and support population recovery. Wolves are the main predator of barren-ground caribou.

Experience elsewhere shows a high level of sustained removal is necessary to support an increase in caribou survival rates, as wolf populations can rebound quickly once management actions are no longer applied.

Monitoring and research are also an important part of effective wolf management and will help us assess the impact our actions are having on wolves and caribou recovery. A collaring program is being conducted to track wolf movements and observe how they interact with barren-ground caribou herds. Wolves collected from the winter ranges of Bathurst and Bluenose-East caribou are being studied to learn more about the diet, health and life history of wolf populations.

Where are we focusing our efforts?

Our wolf reduction actions are targeted on the winter ranges of the Bathurst and Bluenose-East caribou, the area where these herds spend the winter. This area is captured by the North Slave Wolf Harvest Incentive Area (see map above). The much larger Beverly caribou herd sometimes winters in this area as well.

How many wolves need to be removed to give caribou the best chance to recover?

Experience elsewhere shows a high level of sustained removal is necessary to support an increase in caribou survival rates, as wolf populations can rebound quickly once management actions are no longer applied. Our program follows the recommended target of 60% to 80% wolf reduction for each of the winter ranges of the Bathurst and Bluenose-East caribou herds within a period of five years.

In 2019-20, the Bathurst and Bluenose-East caribou herds were located separately on their winter ranges with limited mixing, and separate targets were established for each herd. Targets of 73-97 wolves for the Bluenose-East herd and 29-39 for Bathurst were established based on best available information, reflecting the 60 to 80% wolf reduction target for each herd.

These targets will be reviewed every year based on the best available scientific, local and traditional knowledge, and may be revised as new information becomes available. There is currently limited available information about wolf populations in the NWT, and part of the goal of our wolf management program is to improve our understanding of wolves and wolf-caribou interactions.

Joint Wolf Management Program

To help address the significant declines we have seen in the Bathurst and Bluenose-East caribou (ekwò), the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) and Tłı̨chǫ Government developed a joint approach to wolf (dìga) management in the North Slave region.

Reducing wolf predation, together with ongoing caribou harvest restrictions and other management actions, can help increase caribou survival and give these herds a better chance to recover.

Our approach

The joint GNWT and Tłı̨chǫ Government approach to wolf (dìga) management focused on reducing the number of wolves on the Bathurst and Bluenose-East caribou winter ranges over five years through enhanced support for harvesters and our traditional economy.

From 2019-2024, the GNWT increased payments for harvested wolves, eliminated fees for wolf tags, and offered workshops on best practices for wolf harvesting and pelt preparation to encourage and support harvesting efforts. The joint approach included the Tłı̨chǫ Government’s Community-based Dìga Harvest Training Program to train local harvesters in humane harvesting techniques and pelt preparation.

In collaboration with the Government of Nunavut, the GNWT also offered enhanced incentives to Nunavut hunters harvesting wolves in their traditional area within the North Slave Wolf Harvest Incentive Area.

While our focus was on supporting harvesters to achieve the wolf removal levels necessary to support caribou recovery, some aerial removals were required as a pilot project in 2019-20 because the number of wolves harvested by hunters was less than removal targets.

Monitoring and research were also an important part of the joint approach to wolf management, which will help us assess the impact our actions are having on wolves and caribou recovery.

Wolves have been monitored using a combination of methods, including sample collection and analysis, GPS collar deployment, remote cameras, and aerial surveys in some regions.

Wolves collected from the winter ranges of Bathurst and Bluenose-East caribou were studied to learn more about the diet, health and life history of wolf populations. There is currently limited available information about wolf populations in the NWT, and part of the goal of the wolf management program was to improve our understanding of wolves and wolf-caribou interactions.

Where were we focusing our efforts?

Our wolf management actions were targeted on the winter ranges of the Bathurst and Bluenose-East caribou, the area where these herds spend the winter. This area was captured by the North Slave Enhanced Wolf Harvest Incentive Area.

• Wolf Management

Results

*numbers include total wolf harvest even if payment was not provided, which includes aerial removals in 2019-2020, wolves hit by vehicles, outfitter harvest, and defense of life and property. In years prior to 2023-2024, Inuit harvesters received $900 from GNWT and $300 from GN. At least 70 different harvesters participated in the program from 2020-2024.

Check out the full report

Wek’éezhìi Renewable Resources Board – Reports

When will we know if these actions are helping?

Overall success of wolf management actions will take time to determine. Information collected from harvesters and satellite collars, along with scientific analysis, will help us learn more about wolves and assess the effectiveness of our management actions on caribou. Multiple factors affect caribou in complex ways, so it will be important to look at any changes in caribou populations in the context of environmental conditions and all management actions that occurred, and not just wolf management alone.

The five year North Slave Enhanced Wolf Harvest Incentive Program will be evaluated over the next two years and results will be communicated when complete.

What about other factors affecting Caribou—such as habitat disturbance?

There are multiple pressures affecting caribou populations, some of which we have little control over—including weather, disease and food availability. The Bathurst and Bluenose-East barren-ground caribou herds have declined significantly in recent years, despite sustained efforts to reduce harvest pressure and promote herd recovery. The Bluenose-West herd has remained stable at low levels for a number of years.

While habitat disturbance from development is a major cause of decline in many southern caribou populations (e.g. boreal caribou and southern mountain caribou in B.C.), the ranges of most barren-ground caribou in the NWT have little to no human-caused disturbance. Still, the same downward trends or low population levels are being seen across the north.

Learn more about management, recovery, and conservation measures for barren-ground caribou:

• Bathurst herd
• Barren-ground caribou population surveys
• Bluenose-East, Cape Bathurst, and Bluenose-West herds