The Syilx Okanagan Nation is urging the federal government to issue an Emergency Protection Order for the endangered Southern Mountain caribou, warning that the remaining herds in its territory face extinction.
Syilx Okanagan Nation previously petitioned the Government of Canada on June 1, making the request under Section 80 of the Species at Risk Act.
This comes after repeated warnings from the Syilx Okanagan Nation and scientists, who say habitat loss continues across the ranges of endangered caribou within Syilx Okanagan territory.
“Every year governments delay meaningful habitat protection, we lose more of what cannot be replaced. The science has been clear for years. The solutions have been identified. What has been missing is the political will to act,” said Cailyn Glasser, Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) natural resources manager.
According to the ONA, eight Southern Group herds have already been functionally lost, including the Columbia South herd, which was declared locally extinct in 2023.
The Central Selkirk herd is now at risk, and if it disappears, there will only be one viable caribou herd remaining in Syilx territory, said the ONA.
The Syilx Okanagan Nation believes B.C. has not implemented habitat protection recommendations that were developed together by First Nations and federal officials back in 2025, and instead has continued to prioritize economic activity.
Back in September 2025, the Syilx Okanagan Nation issued its own caribou protection order, clearly stating its responsibility to protect the animals as sacred relatives and uphold Syilx law.
“Our Protection Order affirmed what our people have always known – that we have a responsibility to care for styíłca̓ɂ (caribou) and the lands that sustain them,” said councillor Jordan Coble. “Our petition to Canada was not simply a request for action; it was an exercise of our responsibility to protect a relative whose survival is inseparable from the health of our territory.”
The ONA said it stands with Xatsull First Nation and other nations across the caribou’s range in calling for immediate federal help.
Chief Clarence Louie said the window to act is closing.
“Without immediate protection of critical habitat, future generations will inherit the consequences of decisions that governments had every opportunity to prevent. Canada must act now,” said Louie.