The Woodland Caribou is the larger of the two caribou sub-species found in Saskatchewan, with the other being the Barren Ground Caribou. The territories of both of these native caribou overlap in some areas of the province, though the Woodland Caribou is generally found further south, in the province’s Boreal Forest. Other differences between the two kinds of caribou are the Woodland Caribou do not partake in great migrations like their neighbours to the north, which move in and out of the province seasonally. Woodland Caribou can migrate quite a distance in the mountainous areas of Alberta and in the Boreal Forest of Quebec, but do not migrate extensively in Saskatchewan. The coloration of the two kinds of caribou in Saskatchewan is different, with the Barren Ground Caribou being the lighter of the two. Probably the most important difference between the two sub-species are that as of May of 2000, the Woodland Caribou of Saskatchewan are listed as ‘threatened’ by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) and are listed under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA).

An average male Woodland Caribou weighs in about 400 pounds with females tipping the scales at only 300 pounds, making them smaller than elk, but larger than deer. Woodland Caribou are dark brown to grey in color, with white patches around their neck and over their rump. Caribou are unique, in that both males and females have antlers, though the female’s antlers are quite a bit smaller than those of the male. Not every female caribou will grow antlers, and some females will grow just one. Male caribou start growing antlers every spring and shed them in November or December, quite a bit earlier than most other members of the deer family. Females, on the other hand, may carry their antlers into the winter months.

Woodland Caribou can live in conditions where other animals would perish, due to the special kind of food they eat, and their adaptation to the harsh Saskatchewan winters. The body of the caribou is designed to conserve heat. Their stubby bodies have short limbs, small ears, and a small tail. Their hide is made of hollow guard hairs, which traps in air similar to insulation in the walls of a house. This keeps the cold air out and conserves the caribou’s body head. Even the caribou’s feet are designed for the cold, as the soft pads turn hard during the winter, resulting in only a small, hard area of the animal’s foot touching the cold ground. The large round hooves act as snow shoes to distribute weight more evenly over snow and swampy bogs. The toes are used as snow scoops to uncover food beneath the snow. The name “caribou” is most likely derived from the Mi’kmaq, who called the animal "xalibu". When translated, “xalibu” means "the one who paws".

The main food source caribou paw through the snow for is lichens. They locate them through the snow with their amazing sense of smell, or pick them off of trees in old growth Boreal Forest. Because caribou use lichens as a main food source (it provides up to 80% of their winter diet), they can survive in areas where other animals such as moose and deer could not, such as swampy peat bogs, dense black spruce stands, or the treeless tundra of Saskatchewan’s north, as moose and deer browse on twigs for sustenance. In the summer, the caribou’s diet switches to fresh green vegetation, such as forbs, grasses, sedges, flowers, and even the occasional mushroom.

In early October, the breeding season takes place. Because males compete for females, males usually do not get the opportunity to breed until three or four years of age, though they are able to breed when they are a year and a half old. Like many species of the deer family, caribou fight with their antlers to establish dominance and males will create small harems of females, similar to elk. These small groups the Woodland Caribou form, contrast the Barren Ground Caribou, which live in herds containing thousands. Female Woodland Caribou generally breed at two-and-a-half years of age and usually produce one calf, though occasionally a cow will have two. Calves are born in mid-May in Saskatchewan and are well developed at birth. At an age of only two hours old, they are able to run.

Woodland Caribou populations in Saskatchewan are in trouble. Their population is decreasing from habitat loss and increased predation, which may also be caused by human activities. Saskatchewan’s Woodland Caribou require old-growth coniferous forests to provide them with the lichens they need to survive. Road development, mining, and especially forestry operations of the 1960s, resulted in range fragmentation and the caribou population has been declining ever since. After a logging operation or a fire, it may take 80 years for the forest to grow enough for caribou to survive in it during the winter. Caribou do not eat the new growth saplings through the winter like moose, so food for caribou in newly forested areas is scarce.

Hunting mortality, which was once quite high, is no longer a factor, as recreational hunting of forest-dwelling Woodland Caribou was closed in Saskatchewan in 1987. Predation, however, is still a major cause of their population decline. With more logging operations in place, large fragmented areas of the forest have resulted in more moose, elk, deer, and wolves in caribou habitat. As more moose, elk and deer move in, wolves become more plentiful. Caribou are most the vulnerable to wolf attacks, so out of the four animals listed; caribou suffer the greatest mortalities to wolves.

Regardless of which cause is most responsible for Woodland Caribou population declines, they all seem to be linked to human activities. The important point is that Woodland Caribou populations continue to slowly decrease and something needs to be done to turn this constant population decline in the other direction, if we want Woodland Caribou to be ‘our wildlife’ in Saskatchewan, a hundred years from now.