Mighty caribou herds dwindle, warming blamed

[Arkansas Granny]

Across the tundra 1,500 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the east, Canada's Beverly herd, numbering more than 200,000 a decade ago, can barely be found today.

Halfway around the world in Siberia, the biggest aggregation of these migratory animals, of the dun-colored herds whose sweep across the Arctic's white canvas is one of nature's matchless wonders, has shrunk by hundreds of thousands in a few short years.

From wildlife spectacle to wildlife mystery, the decline of the caribou — called reindeer in the Eurasian Arctic — has biologists searching for clues, and finding them.

They believe the insidious impact of climate change, its tipping of natural balances and disruption of feeding habits, is decimating a species that has long numbered in the millions and supported human life in Earth's most inhuman climate.

More here:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hyzFbQDrEIO0lW9HfktjfyN4KOXQD9B4MUK81

Predators are not mentioned as a factor in this study. This seems to fly in the face of those who insist that slaughtering wolves is the way to improve the caribou population.