Precious photos of Porcupine caribous

On June 19, 2011, a small group of caribou appeared on the other side of the Sheep Creek and they appeared hesitant in coming down the bank and crossing the creek (the side we were on).

In the end, they stayed on the other side and disappeared behind the trees.

On June 22, 2011, while traveling across the landscape to get back to the campground, we found a caribou calf lying on the ground. There did not seem to be anything wrong with it, except it was not moving very much, especially as we approached closer. Thinking it may be just tired (it was very hot that day), we took some photos and leave it be.

Precious looking animal

In the same afternoon, we saw a grizzly in the same area and feared that the grizzly may be there for the unprotected calf. We went back the day after but saw no signs of kill. Hopefully, the calf survived the day.

These are the last of my mammal photos from Ivvavik National Park and will post some insect photos next. Also, I recently came across this blog post by these photographers who also spent some time in Ivvavik National Park photographing wildlife and landscapes. Beautiful! The photographers also published a book called "Yukon - A Wilder Place" which I currently borrowed from the local library and the photographs are stunning, especially since I traveled parts of the landscape myself. Pages 34 and 35 in the book is a spectacular shot of Sheep Slot, one of my field sites. I wish my photos were as good as those so that I can make a poster out of it and put it in my office.