Peary Caribou Locations on Central Ellesmere Island in March 2017 (NGMP ID EC38)

The north end of Peary caribou range on northern Ellesmere Island is typified by lack of data from scientific and local sources, since the area is too rugged and remote for harvesters to travel there regularly. Peary caribou have been surveyed infrequently and irregularly on Ellesmere Island since Teners 1961 survey extrapolated 200 Peary caribou for the island, but weather prevented a full systematic survey and the estimate was presented as a best guess (Tener 1963). In 1973, Riewe flew a series of surveys to investigate wildlife distribution during a PanArctic Oil seismic program, estimating 65 caribou on the Svendsen Peninsula, 300 caribou on the Raanes Peninsula (Riewe 1973). In 1989, Case and Ellsworth (1991) estimated 31SE23 Peary caribou on the Svendsen Peninsula. Parks Canada conducted helicopter searches of wildlife in Quttinirpaaq National Park (QUNP) from 1988-2002 and in 2004, but surveys were unsystematic and annual surveys are no longer undertaken. The only survey of the entire island was 2005/2006, with an estimate of 802 caribou (95%CI=531-1207) on central and northern Ellesmere (Campbell 2006).