Alaska closes cow caribou hunting as Western Arctic herd falls

Families across the western Arctic will lose another major food option after Alaska closed cow caribou hunting in Units 22, 23 and 26A Southwest, a move tied to the Western Arctic Caribou Herd’s drop to 121,000 animals.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game issued the emergency order on May 26, saying the herd now has zero harvestable surplus for cows. The state said that means wildlife managers do not believe enough females remain to support a harvest without further harming the herd’s ability to recover.

The closure matters well beyond the unit boundaries named in the order. For North Slope and western Arctic households that depend on caribou for freezers, sharing networks and seasonal planning, losing cow harvest changes how families set aside meat for fall and winter. It also adds pressure on store-bought food in places where prices are already high and hauling freight is expensive.

Resident hunters still may take up to 15 bulls during the July 1 to June 30 season in the affected area for regulatory year 2026. The hunt areas are managed under registration permits RC800 and RC907, so the state’s action is a targeted shutdown of cow harvest rather than a total end to caribou hunting.

The herd’s decline has been steep. Alaska wildlife officials said the Western Arctic herd peaked at 490,000 animals in 2003, then fell to 164,000 in a 2022 photocensus, 152,000 in July 2023 and 121,000 in the July 2025 count used for this year’s decision. The department has said adult cow survival averaged about 75 percent in recent years, below the roughly 85 percent seen during growth periods, and that changes adopted July 1, 2024 to reduce cow harvest did not stop the decline.

Subsistence managers were already pressing for tighter limits before the state closure. The Northwest Arctic Subsistence Regional Advisory Council asked for a cow-harvest shutdown on May 6 after discussing the issue at a March 31 to April 1 meeting in Kotzebue. Earlier, on January 29, the Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group sought to cut harvest to four caribou per hunter, with only one cow, and warned the herd could fall below 100,000 before the next regulatory cycle.

Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang told the regional council on May 22 that the department was finalizing the emergency order and would ask the Federal Subsistence Board to adopt the same prohibition. That coordinated push reflects the management reality now facing western Alaska: preserving the herd means asking hunters to give up more, even as communities continue to depend on caribou for food, culture and continuity.