Early on Saturday, amid blowing snow and temperatures at minus 13 Fahrenheit, three caribou were blindfolded, earplugged and bundled into a helicopter on an island in Lake Superior.

The animals, survivors of a herd that was decimated by wolves in recent years, were among nine animals relocated by the Ontario government last weekend in an attempt to save them from disappearing from around Lake Superior, where they once thrived. A team of pilots, veterinarians, research scientists and animal handlers moved eight cows and one bull from Michipicoten Island to the Slate Islands some 80 miles away, where the government hopes the animals will have a chance to repopulate.

After being herded by helicopter to an open area on Michipicoten Island, the caribou were captured with a gun net, restrained and sedated. Loaded on another helicopter, they took an hourlong ride to their new home.