Revelstoke Caribou Rearing in the Wild captured 12 female adult caribou for the fourth year of the maternity pen project in early April.
The 12 caribou were placed in the pen, which is located north of Revelstoke, where they will be fed, monitored and kept safe from predators for several months while they give birth and raise their newborn calves.
The goal of the pen is to allow the calves to mature in a secure environment, without risk of predation.
The mothers and their calves will be released into the wild in late July and monitored until the following March, when they are 10 months old and considered recruited into the local population.
RCRW says the program has stabilized the North Columbia caribou herd population at around 150 animals.
In the first three years of the maternity pen, RCRW says calves born in the pen have a 21 per cent higher survival rate than calves born in the wild, and seven calves have been added to the herd.
In 2014, the first year of the pen, nine calves were released from the pen but only two survived past 10 months of age.
In 2015, 15 calves were born in the pen but only 11 were released into the wild. Of those, nine survived to 10 months of age.
In 2016, 12 females were captured, 11 of which were pregnant. In July, seven calves and 12 cows were released back into the wild. Four calves died in the pen — three shortly after birth and one as the result of a broken leg. Of the seven calves that were released, four were confirmed to be alive in March 2017 and the fate of another was unknown. One calve died as a result of a collar malfunction.
The B.C. government is considering a wolf cull in the North Columbia region to help increase calf survival.