Queen Charlotte Islands caribou


The Queen Charlotte Islands caribou or Dawson's caribou is an extinct subspecies of the reindeer that once lived on Graham Island, the largest of the Haida Gwaii islands in British Columbia, Canada. Possible causes of extinction include habitat destruction, introduced disease and overhunting. It was grey in appearance. The last three caribou were killed in 1908 and can be seen at the Royal British Columbia Museum, where their pelts and bones are preserved and displayed. Recent analysis of mtDNA suggests that the Queen Charlotte Islands caribou was not genetically distinct from the subspecies from the Canadian mainland.