Gray Ghosts, the Last Caribou in the Lower 48 States, Are 'Functionally Extinct'

Known as gray ghosts because they are only rarely glimpsed, they differ from other types of caribou, which are plentiful on the tundra. The feeding behavior exhibited by the animals, which are also called deep snow caribou, is unusual. As snow builds up in the winter they head higher into the mountains, where they stand on snow to be able to reach and feed on lichen called Old Man's Beard that grows on the branches of old-growth trees. The total number of southern mountain caribou in Canada declined to 3,800 this year from 4,500 the year before, and their existence is considered precarious. Only an interconnected system of protected habitat and land managed for conservation will prevent the loss of mountain caribou, said Candace Batycki, a conservationist with the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative in Alberta.