It's an emergency, according to The Syilx Okanagan Nation.
The Indigenous group is now formally petitioning the federal government under section 80 of the Species at Risk Act to issue an emergency order to protect critical southern mountain caribou habitat.
The southern mountain caribou is a unique ecotype of the woodland caribou that is listed as 'threatened' under the Species at Risk Act with herds scattered throughout southern BC and Alberta.
'Threatened' is not as severe a classification as 'endangered', 'extirpated' (which means the species no longer exists in the wild in certain areas) and 'extinct' (no longer exists anywhere).
The southern mountain caribou disappeared from the US in 2019.
Caribou is the same species as reindeer -- 'caribou' is the preferred name in North America, while 'reindeer' is the term used in northern Europe and Siberia.
"The current provincial and federal recovery measures have failed to address ongoing habitat destruction and cumulative effects across caribou ranges," said Chief Dan Wilson of the Vernon-based Okanagan Indian Band.
"Without immediate and enforceable habitat protection measures, styíłca̓ɂ (the Syilx word for southern mountain caribou) will be lost forever."
The Syilx Okanagan Nation blames industrial forestry, road development, recreation, wildfire and landscape fragmentation for habitat degradation and loss.
If granted, the emergency order would protect lands critical to the southern mountain caribou's habitat.
The Nation is also asking to participate in the protection through Indigenous-led stewardship grounded in Syilx law and responsibilities to the land.
In October 2025, the Syilx Okanagan Nation Chiefs Executive Council enacted the Styíłca̓ɂ Protection Order to pretest the southern mountain caribou and their habitat.
Since then, the Nation said habitat loss and disturbance continue, underscoring the urgent need for the federal emergency order.
The Nation's call for action focuses on the three remaining southern mountain caribou herds in the unceded territory of the Syilx Okanagan in southern BC:
- The Frisby-Boulder herd just west of Revelstoke, which is considered functionally 'extirpated' (meaning wiped out or extinct), with only 8 left.
- The Central Selkirk herd north of Nelson has diminished to 27 animals and further decrease is feared.
- The Columbia North herd has shown some fragile growth to 185 members.
The caribou achieved that herd growth by moving from adjacent ranges, rather than habitat recovery.
"The continued logging of critical caribou habitat is inconsistent with Syilx forestry principles and standards, yet the province continues to authorize logging in these core areas," said Jordan Coble, chair of the Syilx Nation Natural Resource Committee and a councillor with Westbank First Nation.
"The key issue is the lack of meaningful habitat protection. Only 35% of core habitat for the Columbia North herd is currently protected."
For the Syilx people, styíłca̓ɂ (the southern mountain caribou) is more than a species at risk.
The animals are deeply connected to Indigenous culture, laws, food systems and responsibilities of all living things.
Wilderness Committee, the environmental charity that fights for habitat protection that has offices in BC, Manitoba and Ontario, is also lobbying and raising money to save the southern mountain caribou.
Check out https://www.
