In the summer of 2026, the Val d'Or caribou herd counted exactly seven animals. Six had been placed in a protective pen six years earlier; after more than half a decade of managed breeding in a secure enclosure, the herd had grown by just one. That single addition stands as a measure of how close Quebec's woodland caribou have come to disappearing entirely. Quebec is home to roughly 15 percent of Canada's woodland caribou population, yet numbers across the province have fallen to about half what they were a decade ago.

Of the 13 woodland herds — estimated at between 6,800 and 8,900 animals in total — 12 are considered at risk of extinction within the next 20 years, according to Prof Martin-Hugues St-Laurent, an animal ecologist at the University of Quebec at Rimouski. First Nations communities, who regard the caribou as a keystone species tied to their land and culture, have long accused the provincial government of moving too slowly to act. A newly announced agreement between the federal and Quebec governments has committed C$25 million over five years for caribou conservation, with an additional C$15 million directed to the First Nations communities on whose territories the herds range. The funding focuses specifically on the three most critically endangered herds: Val d'Or, Charlevoix and Gaspésie.

This year, seven Gaspésie caribou were released into the wild — the first reintroduction since penning began in 2023. Yet the agreement's continued emphasis on maternity pens has drawn sharp criticism from researchers, who argue that enclosures treat a symptom rather than the cause.