NationalGeographicTravellerAustraliaandNewZealandWinter2018

winter iSSUe 2018 119

it’s one of the largest movements of

animals on the planet. each year,

during the northern autumn (usually

starting in about october), the huge

Qamanirjuaq caribou herd, numbering

more than 300,000 beasts, makes its

way to nunavut. as winter takes hold,

the herd spends the coldest months

foraging for lichens hidden beneath the

snow in the taiga (boreal forest). on the

shore of ennadai lake, arctic haven

wilderness lodge sits in prime position

in the tree line of the canadian Barren

lands and in the migratory path of the

Qamanirjuaq herd. During autumn, as

the sound of thousands of hooves shatters

the silence of the tundra when the caribou

move south, there is also the chance to

see the spectacle of the northern lights

shimmering overhead in the evening. not

able to get there during autumn? as the

weather starts to warm again come July,

the caribou head north. near Qamanirjuaq

lake, the females calve and raise their

young away from the area where the forest

borders the tundra and wolves and bears

pose a threat to newborns.

WhERE: Kivalliq, NuNavut

WhEn: from october

Canada’s herds of barren-ground caribou

are named after their traditional calving

grounds. They spend most of the year on the

tundra, but migrate seasonally to the sparse

conifer forests known as taiga.

Courtesy nunavut t

ourism

Caribou