No endangered listing for Labrador caribou as Innu hunt continues

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Newfoundland and Labrador won’t list two caribou herds as endangered while it continues talks with Indigenous groups.

That’s despite a recommendation last fall from a federal committee that the George River and Torngat Mountains herds should be listed under the province’s Endangered Species Act.

A 2016 count estimated the George River herd at just under 9,000 animals — down from 74,000 six years earlier.

A hunting ban has been in place since 2013, but the Innu Nation says its own management plan allows for killing 100 animals.