Leaf River (French: Rivière aux Feuilles; Inuktitut: Kuugaaluk ["the large river"] or Itinniq ["where there are spring tides"]) is a river in northern Quebec, Canada, at the northern limit of the tree line. It flows from Lake Minto northeast through the Ungava Peninsula into Leaf Bay off Ungava Bay over a distance of . At the head of Leaf Bay is the Inuit community of Tasiujaq.

With caution, it is possible to paddle the entire Leaf River without portaging, as it contains no impassable waterfalls or non-navigable rapids. The river's length, measured from Charpentier Bay to Tasiujaq, is ; if measured from first discernable current, it is .

The river is ice-free for about 60 days each year.<br />

1898 - Albert Peter Low<br />

1912 - Robert J. Flaherty<br />

1976 - Bob Davis

The Leaf River caribou herd

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Caribou crossing Leaf River.jpg|Caribou crossing Leaf River

Caribou at the campsite (cropped).jpg|Leaf River and caribou

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The Leaf River caribou herd (LRCH) is a migratory forest-tundra ecotype of the boreal population, a caribou subspecies of Rangifer tarandus caribou. Like the George River Herd, it migrates between forest and tundra. Migratory caribou herds are often defined in terms of female natal philopatry or natal homing, the tendency to return to natal calving areas—in this case, the Leaf River. The Leaf Herd in the west, near the coast of Hudson Bay, increased from 270,000 in 1991 to 628,000 in 2001. According to the Quebec's Natural Resources and Wildlife survey, the Leaf River Herd (LRH) (Rivière-aux-Feuilles) had decreased to 430,000 caribou in 2011. According to an international study on caribou populations, the Leaf River herd could be threatened with extinction by 2080.

References

  • Tides on Leaf Basin, Quebec
  • Leaf Bay 7 day tidal predictions, Fisheries and Oceans Canada