Gun Trade World - April 2023

CARIBOU
Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) are large, stout members of the deer
family, with concave hooves that splay to support the animal
in snow or soft tundra and which function as paddles in water.
Caribou live in the arctic tundra, mountain tundra, and northern
forests of North America, Russia, and Scandinavia. Although they
are called reindeer in Europe, only domesticated caribou are
called reindeer in Alaska and Canada.
Caribou in Alaska are distributed in 32 herds (or populations)
totalling approximately 950,000 animals. This includes in herds
shared with Canada’s Yukon Territory. Although each herd uses its
own unique calving area, different herds may mix together while
on their winter ranges. Many herds winter in the boreal forest, but
during the remainder of the year caribou prefer treeless tundra
and mountains where they can get relief from biting insects.
Population numbers of caribou are somewhat cyclical, but
the timing of declines and increases, and the size to which herds
grow, is not very predictable. On average, people harvest about
22,000 caribou in Alaska each year.
Alone among the deer family, caribou of both sexes grow
antlers. Antlers of adult bulls are large and massive; those of
adult cows are much smaller and spindlier. In late fall, caribou
are clove brown-coloured with a white neck, rump, and feet, and
they often have a whitish flank stripe. Weights of adult bull’s
average 350 – 400lbs (159 – 182kg). Mature females average
175 – 225 lbs (80 – 120kg). The dressed weight of a 400lb (181-kg)
caribou is about 240lbs (109kg). This equates to about 100lbs
(45kg) of meat.
BLACK BEAR
An estimated 100,000 black bears (Ursus americanus)
inhabit Alaska. State-wide, the annual harvest
increased steadily between 2003 and 2007, from
about 2,500 to 3,250 bears.
Adult black bears stand about 29in (0.73m) at the
shoulders and measure about 60in (1.5m) from nose
to tail. Males are larger than females. An average
adult male in spring weighs about 180 – 200lbs (81.8
– 90.9kg). Bears weigh considerably less when they
emerge from winter dormancy; they may weigh 20
per cent more in the fall after putting on layers of
fat prior to hibernation. A 350lb (159kg) black bear
will dress out at about 210lbs (95kg), yielding about
120lbs (54kg) of meat.
Black bears can vary in colour from jet black
to white. Black is the colour encountered most
frequently across the state, but brown or cinnamoncoloured
black bears are sometimes seen in
Southcentral Alaska and on the south-eastern
mainland.
In Alaska, black bears occur over most of the
forested areas of the state; depending on the season
of the year, they may be found from sea level to
alpine areas. They are not found on the Seward
Peninsula, on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, or north of
the Brooks Range. They are also absent from some of
the large islands of the Gulf of Alaska, notably Kodiak,
Montague, Hinchinbrook and others, and from the
Alaska Peninsula south of the Lake Iliamna area. In
Southeast Alaska, black bears occupy most islands
with the exceptions of Admiralty, Baranof, Chichagof,
and Kruzof; these are inhabited by brown bears. Both
bear species occur on the southeastern mainland.
alaska brazil
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