Being Caribou: Five Months on Foot with an Arctic Herd

Monika Rohlmann is an environmental consultant in Barrie, Ontario.

Karsten Heuer is a wildlife biologist and seasonal park warden. His
first book, Walking the Big Wild (2000), documented a walking journey
from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming to the Yukon. For his next
adventure—the subject of this book—Heuer ventured into the wilds of
Yukon and Alaska to document a portion of the seasonal migration of the
Porcupine Caribou herd.

Being Caribou describes the Porcupine Caribou herd’s annual migration
from Old Crow, Yukon, to the calving grounds in the Alaska National
Wildlife Refuge (one of the many sites the U.S. government is
considering for further oil exploration). Heuer and his wife, Leanne
Allison (who captured video footage of their trip), began the journey in
early April 2003 and finished in early September 2003. Trying to keep
pace with the caribou, the couple undertook the physically challenging
task of skiing and hiking through forests, mountain valleys, tundra, and
muskeg. Air drops provided food and film supplies.

Sixteen pages of full-colour plates document the couple’s gruelling
endeavour. Heuer’s text touches on larger issues such as the potential
impact oil drilling might have on the caribou herd, but the journey
itself is the book’s focus. Anyone interested in wilderness adventure
will want to read Being Caribou.