Responses of woodland caribou to winter ecotourism in the Charlevoix Biosphere Reserve, Canada

We assessed the impact of ecotourist visits during winter on woodland carib ou Rangifer tarandus caribou time budgets in the Charlevoix Biosphere Reser ve, Canada. We compared the behaviour of caribou during and after ecotouris t visits with their behaviour during days without visits. In the presence o f ecotourists, caribou increased time spent vigilant and standing, mostly a t the expense of time spent resting and foraging. After visits, caribou ten ded to rest more than during control days. Caribou reduced time spent forag ing during ecotourist visits as the number of observers increased. The impa ct of ecotourists appeared to decrease as winter progressed. Visits were sh ort ((x) over bar = 39.3 min) and caribou never left their winter quarters because of human presence. However, caribou abandoned their wintering area twice in response to wolf presence. Although winter is a difficult period o f the year for caribou, our results suggest that with proper precautions ca ribou in Charlevoix can tolerate ecotourist visits. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scien ce Ltd. All rights reserved.