Calgary’s zoo gets funding to support woodland caribou through lichen harvesting

A $285,000 investment over three years from TC Energy will go toward funding the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo's lichen harvest program for woodland caribou.

The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo has announced a $285,000 investment from TC Energy to help boost the organization’s lichen harvesting program, which helps feed their woodland caribou.

Lichen is a unique plant that’s a mix of fungus and algae.

“In the wild, it can make up as much as 85 per cent of a woodland caribou’s winter diet,” explained Larisa Jancewicz, supervisor of animal nutrition.

At the zoo, it’s used as a treat during training and for enrichment exercises when it’s spread throughout the enclosure for them to forage.

“Supplementing our zoo caribou with lichen not only provides nutritional benefits but also encourages natural feeding behaviour”.

Jancewicz says lichen is “incredibly slow-growing and sensitive.”

As such, the zoo works with communities and school groups in Alberta and British Columbia to ethically harvest the nutritional powerhouse.

Thursday’s investment from TC Energy will see the zoo receive the money over three years, including annual funding of $85,000.

“We are proud to support caribou conservation efforts that will not only protect this important species and advance long-term environmental resilience but educate and inspire the next generation,” said Sharon Tomkins, vice-president, chief sustainability officer at TC Energy.

The announcement comes the day before World Caribou Day, which aims to raise awareness about at-risk caribou populations and the urgent need to protect their habitats.

Woodland caribou are listed globally as “vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List, and Alberta’s woodland caribou are considered threatened under Canada’s Species at Risk Act due to habitat loss, climate change and deforestation.

Alberta’s caribou population is declining by 50 per cent every nine years, with some Arctic subspecies seeing a 90 per cent drop in population, according to The Wilder Institute.

Tara Russell with The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society says Albertans can help save caribou habitat by giving feedback on the ‘Upper Smoky Sub-Regional Plan’ by June 25.

“This plan that just came out, it’s going to clear-cut almost all of the remaining critical winter habitat for these southern mountain caribou. But it’s still just a draft so people can weigh in,” said Russell.