Porcupine River

Porcupine River in the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge

The Porcupine River ( Porcupine: English for Baumstachler ) is a 721 km long river in the Yukon Territory and Alaska.

Geography

Its source rivers, Miner River and Fishing Branch, rise in the West Nahoni Mountains or in the north of it Porcupine River Ranges. They unite near Whitestone Village. From there, the Porcupine River flows first northward, then in a south-westerly direction, passing through the village of Old Crow and ends at Fort Yukon in Alaska into the Yukon River. In the lower reaches, the river flows through the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge. The catchment area of ​​the Porcupine River is 117.9 thousand km ², of which there are 61.4 thousand km ² in Canada.

General

The Porcupine caribou herd, which is threatened by the planned oil extraction in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, is named after the river.

The oldest ( but controversial ) evidence of human habitation in North America was found in a cave on a tributary of the Porcupine River. They found a large number of animal bones in the Bluefish Caves which had been handled by humans. By radiocarbon dating their age has been dated to 25000-40000 years, several thousand years earlier than was the first human settlements in North America.