2023 IMPACT REPORT

WPC is Canada’s last defence for endangered species. is Canada’s last defence for endangered species.

Since 1985, Wildlife Preservation Canada has been saving the most imperiled and endangered species in Canada.

A land where Canada’s wildlife is bountiful, diverse, and thriving, free from the threat of extinction.

Wildlife Preservation Canada saves animals at risk from extinction in Canada by performing hands-on field work with species requiring direct action to recover, providing opportunities for Canadian conservation biologists to increase their expertise, and advancing conservation science by developing new methods for endangered species recovery.

Wildlife Preservation Canada is a conservation leader managing recovery programs for some of Canada’s most threatened species. We develop innovative techniques that can be used in Canada and around the world to save species at risk. We build this country’s conservation capacity by providing opportunities for young scientists to work with endangered species, both in Canada and abroad.

To maximize our impact, we choose species based on the urgency of their conservation needs, our unique expertise, and the potential to collaborate with other organizations and strategic partners. We work closely with local communities recognizing that they are critical to
long-term conservation success.

MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT

Dear Supporters and Friends of Wildlife Preservation Canada,

It is with immense gratitude and pride that I write to you, reflecting on the remarkable strides we made in 2023 in our unwavering mission to safeguard Canada’s precious wildlife.

Our year was marked by several key highlights:

• Unprecedented success in our bumble bee conservation efforts. The at-risk yellow-banded bumble bees under our care produced a record-breaking 131 queens, a significant milestone in endangered bumble bee conservation.

• Our reptile programs made significant strides, releasing a record 212 western painted turtles in B.C, the highest number ever in the province, and observing 36 nests laid by turtles under our care, demonstrating the success of our population rebuilding efforts.

• Our team also triumphed over the lethal Chytrid fungus threatening our female Oregon spotted frogs. Through the development of new treatment methods, we ensured all frogs were cleared of the infection in time for the breeding season.

As we look ahead to 2024, we are excited to expand our conservation and re-introduction programs. Additionally, we are expanding our New Noah program as we invest in building the next generation of conservation biologists in Canada to tackle our biodiversity crisis. On behalf of the entire team at Wildlife Preservation Canada, I extend my deepest gratitude for your unwavering commitment to our cause. Our accomplishments would not be possible without your invaluable support Thank you for standing with us in our mission to ensure Canada’s wildlife is bountiful, diverse and thriving, free from the threat of extinction. Together, we can preserve our natural heritage for future generations.

With heartfelt appreciation,

Shripal Doshi
President, Wildlife Preservation Canada

OREGON SPOTTED FROG

Rana pretiosa

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The Oregon spotted frog is the country’s most endangered amphibian. In Canada, it’s found only in the wetlands of B.C.’s Lower Fraser Valley, where just a few hundred individuals remain in a handful of small, widely scattered populations. That makes conservation breeding essential. And for the last few years, WPC has been hugely successful at breeding tadpoles to bolster wild numbers. Thanks to the game-changing “love tubs” we created in 2021 to introduce males to females, we’ve been able to produce more than 20,000 tadpoles a year. Then, in 2023, a devastating fungal outbreak hit our facilities. Although it reduced the number of tadpoles we produced, the treatments we developed will help frog conservation programs around the globe.

Photo: J. Banta

Developing ground-breaking treatments for fatal fungus

Disaster stuck in December 2022, when we lost more than half of the female Oregon spotted frogs in our breeding colony in a single evening. The culprit? Chytrid fungus: a lethal disease responsible for frog extinctions around the world.

The WPC team had to react quickly and develop new treatment methods, since there were no protocols for curing chytrid in frogs that are estivating — a dormant state similar to hibernation. Our novel anti-fungal intervention proved 100 per cent successful and can now be used by other frog conservation programs.

Thanks to the successful treatment, the team cleared all frogs of chytrid in time for the breeding season. And despite the major setback, our indomitable female frogs produced 6,180 tadpoles for release to the restored wetlands in the Fraser Valley.

We also collected tadpoles from the wild, rearing them at our facilities until they grew into larger froglets with better odds of survival. We released 364 of them and kept back another 60 to rebuild our breeding colony and boost its genetic diversity.

All those efforts are making an impact in the wild. For the fourth year in a row, we saw egg masses at our restored reintroduction site — clear evidence that the tadpoles we release are surviving, growing into frogs and reproducing.

Program Location

Fraser River Valley, British Columbia

WPC Conservation Toolkit

Breeding & Reintroduction

Program Partners & Supporters

Anonymous Foundation
B.C. Conservation Foundation
B.C. Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
B.C. Ministry of Land, Water, and Resource Stewardship
Calgary Zoo
Employment & Social Development Canada – Canada Summer Jobs
Fraser Valley Conservancy
Greater Vancouver Zoo
Kwantlen First Nation
Leq’a:mel First Nation
Metro Vancouver Parks
Precious Frog
Seabird Island First Nation
Simon Fraser University
Toronto Zoo
University of Guelph
University of the Fraser Valley
Vancouver Aquarium

“This was an incredible recovery from what could very well have been a complete loss of the breeding season, or an even more catastrophic loss of animals in the breeding program.”

– Andrea Gielens, Lead Biologist

TAYLOR’S CHECKERSPOT

Euphydryas editha taylori

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As B.C.’s native grasslands are lost to agriculture and other development, the survival of Taylor’s checkerspots hangs in the balance. In 2005, only a dozen or so of these brightly coloured butterflies were left in the province. But donors from across the country rallied together to fund recovery efforts. Thanks to that support, WPC’s conservation experts discovered the secret to breeding thousands of caterpillars each year, so we can release them in the wild. On Hornby Island, the results are clear. We’re now seeing a new generation of caterpillars produced by the ones we’d released earlier. It’s proof that our program is working, creating hope that these important pollinators can make a comeback.

Photo: P. Archibald

Spotting checkerspot larvae on Hornby Island

Since we began releasing caterpillars on Hornby Island in 2020, we’ve seen the appearance of adults, and we’ve seen those adults breeding. Now, thanks to the addition of a survey in early summer, we’ve been able to actually find larvae produced by checkerspots released in previous years.

In total, field staff observed 90 caterpillar clusters at varying stages of development, making this the most productive site for Taylor’s
checkerspots in Canada for 2023. To keep that momentum going, we released 1,400 caterpillars in the spring at the reintroduction site
at Hornby’s Helliwell Provincial Park.

We also kept 157 larvae for our breeding program. However, we needed to add wild checkerspot caterpillars from a population on Vancouver Island to the program to broaden its genetic diversity. Unfortunately, we found only four individuals in 2023, likely because of poor weather during the 2022 breeding season. To make matters worse, those four represented just two lineages, which limits our ability to find suitable pairs for mating.

As a result, instead of breeding checkerspots in 2024, we’ve decided to spend the year rebuilding our conservation colony and refreshing
its genetics. That said, our ultimate goals remain the same: breed and release 3,000–6,000 caterpillars per year for five years to create three healthy wild populations in B.C. — and a vibrant future for Taylor’s checkerspots.

Program Location

Vancouver Island & Gulf Islands, British Columbia

WPC Conservation Toolkit

Breeding & Reintroduction
Land Steward Engagement
Population Monitoring

Program Partners & Supporters

Anonymous Foundation
B.C. Parks
B.C. Ministry of Land, Water, and Resource Stewardship
Denman Conservancy Association
Denman Island landowners & community members
Employment & Social Development Canada – Summer Jobs
Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team
Hornby Island Natural History Centre
Hornby Island landowners & community members
K’ómoks First Nation
Greater Vancouver Zoo
Oregon Zoo
Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Recovery Implementation Group
Taylor’s Checkerspot Community Working Group
The Rogers Foundation
University of British Columbia

“Overall Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly populations were down significantly in the wild this year. This isn’t an immediate concern as insect populations do tend to fluctuate. However, it is good to know that the most successful Canadian population by far has been the population our breeding program repopulated on Hornby Island.”

– Andrea Gielens, Lead Biologist

WESTERN PAINTED TURTLE

Chrysemys picta bellii

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The western painted turtle is B.C.’s only remaining native turtle. In the Fraser Valley, fewer than 750 can be found. But since 2012, WPC has been taking action to bring them back. It starts with protecting wild nests wherever possible. But mother turtles don’t always choose safe locations to nest. In that case, we bring the eggs back to WPC’s headstarting program at the Greater Vancouver Zoo. Headstarting is about giving young turtles the best odds of survival. When the baby turtles hatch, they’re only the size of a loonie. We look after them until they’re big enough to have a fighting chance against predators when we release them into the wild. And it’s working.

Photo: Ray Maichin Photography

A record-breaking year for head started hatchlings

In 2023, field staff observed 36 nests in the wild laid by females that we headstarted in past years — a huge jump from the seven nests we found in 2022! It’s confirmation that the individuals we’ve released are now reaching breeding age and producing new generations of turtles.

To build on that success, we released a record 212 headstarted turtles in B.C. We increased our monitoring this year as well, helping us protect dozens of nests. F

or example, when we discovered moles were persistently eating turtle eggs at our Aldergrove site, we installed protective cages around the nests. And when those measures weren’t enough, we removed some nests altogether, incubating the eggs in our conservation lab instead. In total, we released 150 hatchlings from these threatened nests back to the wild.

Across B.C.’s Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland, we collected a total of 400 eggs from at-risk nests — another increase from the previous season. This year, our headstarting program also received 62 hatchlings from nests from the Sunshine Coast population.

Meanwhile, our newly developed treatments for cryptosporidium — a common parasite that causes something called “soft shell”— have nearly eliminated the parasite from the turtles in our breeding program. It’s a major advance that promises to help other turtle conservation programs around the world.

Program Location

Fraser River Valley, British Columbia

WPC Conservation Toolkit

Education and Outreach
Headstarting & Reintroduction
Land Steward Engagement
Nest Protection

Program Partners & Supporters
Aitchelitz First Nation
Anonymous Foundation
Athene Ecological
B.C. Conservation Foundation
B.C. Institute of Technology
B.C. Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
Coastal Partners in Conservation
Dewdney Animal Hospital
Employment & Social Development Canada – Canada Summer Jobs
Fraser Valley Conservancy
Greater Vancouver Zoo
Kwantlen First Nation
Leq’a:mel First Nation
Metro Vancouver Parks
Private landowners of Nicomen Slough and Murchie Lake
Seabird Island First Nation
University of the Fraser Valley
Yakweakwioose First Nation
Vancouver Island University
Western Painted Turtle Recovery Team

“It’s such a mix of emotions to let these guys go. As we carry them in Rubbermaid bins to the release site, it’s hard not to feel nervous — especially when so much is riding on their survival. But it’s also exciting to see them swim off into a wetland where they can get on with turtle life.”

– Mitchell Gardiner, Lead Conservation Recovery Technician

EASTERN LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE

Lanius ludovicians migrans

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Eastern loggerhead shrikes are a rare combination of songbird and bird of prey, using their hooked bills to dispatch mice, frogs, grasshoppers and other small prey. They then impale their dinner on the thorns of shrubs or barbed wire and tear off bite-sized chunks.

They’re rare for other reasons as well. When shrike numbers nosedived in the 1990s, Environment Canada invited WPC to lead a multi-partner recovery effort. Twenty years later, we continue to work tirelessly to save this species by breeding and releasing shrikes into the wild, monitoring populations, restoring habitats and more. That work has prevented them from disappearing from Canada, but we still need to tackle the causes driving their decline.

Photo: A. Samuelson

Persevering and partnering to save the butcher birds

WPC’s work to save loggerhead shrikes faced significant hurdles in 2023. For the first time since 2007, we didn’t receive the provincial funding that typically covers the bulk of the program’s operational costs. Repairs to bird enclosures at the Toronto Zoo limited the space available during breeding season. And we experienced the second highest rate of fledgling mortality in the program’s history.

Despite these challenges, our dedicated — albeit smaller — field team kept the program running. Together, they monitored and protected nesting sites that produced 37 fledglings in the wild. They also released 17 young conservation-bred shrikes, equipping five with radio tags to track their travels during migration.

To help fill gaps, we relied heavily on project partners. Many contributed funding or staffing support at critical points in the season to ensure key activities could be completed.

This was also the first year of breeding for our partners at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh. As a new facility, they were given a single breeding pair that successfully produced three fledglings. In Montebello, Quebec, Parc Omega completed construction of their new shrike pod in early 2023 and will begin breeding shrikes in 2024. And in the coming years, Granby Zoo in Quebec is expected to join the program, expanding support for shrikes even further.

Program Location

Southern Ontario

WPC Conservation Toolkit

Breeding & Reintroduction
Research
Creating Partnerships
Habitat Restoration
Land Steward Engagement
Population Monitoring
Outreach and Education
Threat Mitigation

Program Partners & Supporters

African Lion Safari
BluEarth Renewables
Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative
Carden Forum
Couchiching Conservancy
Scott Inc Limited
Employment & Social Development Canada – Canada Summer Jobs
Environment & Climate Change Canada – Science Horizons
Youth Internship Program
Hodgson Family Foundation
Kingston Solar LP
Napanee Plains Joint Initiative
Nashville Zoo at Grassmere
The National Aviary
The Nature Conservancy of Canada
The North American Loggerhead Shrike Working Group
Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks
Ontario Parks
Ontario Veterinary College
Panacea Products
Park Omega
Partners in Flight Eastern Grasslands Working Group
Queen’s University
Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre
Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute
Takla Foundation
Toronto Zoo
Western University

“A strength of WPC and our Shrike Recovery Program lies in our collaborative network and mutual respect among partners.”

– Hazel Wheeler, Conservation Programs Director

NATIVE BUMBLE BEES

Bombus sp.

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With a third of Canada’s bumble bee species in decline and at risk of extinction, there’s a lot less buzzing in the wild. But WPC’s Bumble Bee Conservation Lab has never been
noisier, thanks to breakthroughs that are producing phenomenal results.

Since 2020, we’ve been breeding endangered bees with our partners at African Lion Safari so we can one day release them. As the only organization in Canada rebuilding wild populations through conservation breeding, we’ve experimented with different bee diets, lighting conditions and overwintering environments. Now, those efforts are paying off, filling our facilities with a hopeful hum as we work to save this crucial pollinator that so many species —including humans — depend on.

Photo: T. Harrison

Celebrating the best bumble bee breeding season ever

Each year, our Bumble Bee Conservation Lab establishes breeding colonies of the yellow-banded bumble bee. If all goes well in the lab, these colonies produce workers, then males, and finally new queens who will overwinter.

In 2023, our lab was overflowing with record-breaking numbers of workers and males. Not only that, the yellow-banded bumble bees in our care produced 131 queens — shattering our previous best, set in 2022, of just three! And to top it off, we achieved our very first yellow-banded matings.

We also spent more time in the field, gathering critical information on bumble bee distribution and population trends. In total, we carried out 109 surveys at 85 sites in southern and central Ontario, recording 3,156 bumble bees from 15 species.

This is the largest monitoring program of its kind in the province, and community science is key to those efforts. In 2023, we trained 152 people from 10 different organizations and the community on how to search for and identify bumble bees. At the same time, we partnered with Rouge National Urban Park in Toronto, one of the largest urban parks in North America, to launch a new community science program.

This builds on our monitoring initiatives already underway in Ontario at the Claremont Nature Centre and Pinery Provincial Park, providing more eyes on the ground tracking this important pollinator.

Program Location

Southern  and Central Ontario

WPC Conservation Toolkit

Breeding & Reintroduction
Research
Education & Outreach
Population Monitoring & Assessments

Program Partners & Supporters

African Lion Safari
BumbleBeeWatch.org.
The Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation
The Chawkers Foundation
Claremont Nature Centre
Environment & Climate Change Canada
EcoCanada Science Horizons & Co-op Youth Internship Programs
Employment and Social Development Canada – Canada Summer Jobs
Entomological Society of Ontario
Esgenoôpetitj Watershed Association
J.P. Bickell Foundation 
Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg of the Algonquin First Nation
K.M. Hunter Charitable Fund
The Land Between
Maitland Valley Conservation Authority
Ontario Conservation Authorities
Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks
Ontario Parks
Ontario Power Generation
Parks Canada
Pinery Provincial Park
Pollination Guelph
The Printing House
Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science Knowledge to Action Research Groups Grant
rare Charitable Research Reserve
RBC Tech for Nature
The Rogers Foundation
Rouge National Urban Park
Science North
Sunset Community Foundation
Takla Foundation
TD Friends of the Environment Foundation
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
University of Guelph & Arboretum
Université du Québec à Montréal
University of Minnesota
The Xerces Society
York University

“The Bumble Bee Recovery Program team saw some amazing growth within our Conservation Breeding Lab. We were able to overwinter 61 yellow-banded queens compared to only 2 in 2022 which can then help contribute to our colonies in 2024.”

– Taylor Kerekes, Lead Biologist

MASSASAUGA RATTLESNAKE

Sistrurus catenatus

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In Canada, massasauga rattlesnakes are limited to the Georgian Bay shoreline and only two isolated habitats in Ontario’s Carolinian Zone: the Ojibway Prairie Complex near Windsor and the Wainfleet Bog near Welland. However, there have been no sightings at Ojibway Prairie since 2019. We’re working to reverse that.

In 2021, WPC was asked to lead the creation of a provincial recovery implementation team for the massasauga. We’ve successfully begun overwintering snakes in preparation for reintroducing them to Ojibway Prairie. We’re restoring habitat, setting up barriers to prevent cars from running over young snakes and reaching out to local landowners to encourage stewardship. In the process, we’re also benefiting other at-risk species.

Major leaps forward for Canada’s only snake reintroduction program

For a second year in a row, WPC successfully overwintered 12 eastern massasauga rattlesnakes at potential release sites at Ojibway Prairie using our artificial hibernacula. These structures consist of a long plastic underground tube with internal chambers, mimicking the crayfish burrows that massasaugas typically use. During the winter of 2022-23 we overwintered 12 massasaugas and 100% survived in good health, demonstrating that these sites provided suitable habitat for hibernation.

We also secured permission under the provincial Endangered Species Act to begin introducing conservation-bred massasaugas in summer 2024 to augment the wild population at Ojibway Prairie. In preparation, we conducted a trial release with four eastern gartersnakes, testing a combination of beneficial translocation tactics. The snakes were surgically implanted with small radio transmitters, allowing the team to monitor their movements and overwinter survival.

Thanks to decades of habitat restoration efforts at Ojibway Prairie, both wild and translocated snakes have the natural environments they need to thrive. Also, our surveys revealed that five snake species are reproducing in areas restored by our team. We completed further enhancements in 2023, removing invasive phragmites — an aggressive and damaging reed grass — across a 10-hectare area and maintaining 750 metres of fencing to prevent both road mortality and human-snake conflict.

Finally, we made sure to share our species-at-risk expertise at public consultations for the proposed Ojibway National Urban Park, advocating for expanded habitat protection for the benefit of massasaugas and other endangered reptiles of the Ojibway Prairie.

Program Location

Ontario

WPC Conservation Toolkit

Breeding & Reintroduction
Research
Education and Outreach
Habitat Restoration & Stewardship
Invasive species Control
Population Assessments
Population Monitoring
Threat Mitigation

Program Partners & Supporters

8Trees Inc.
Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Canada
Caldwell First Nation
Canadian Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake Recovery Implementation Group
Employment & Social Development Canada – Canada Summer Jobs
Environment & Climate Change Canada Priority Places for Species at Risk
Essex Region Conservation Authority
Friends of Ojibway Prairie
Georgian Bay Biosphere
Hydro One
Laurentian University
Little Ray’s Nature Centre
Magnetawan First Nation
Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks
The Nature Conservancy of Canada
Ojibway Nature Centre (City of Windsor)
Ontario Nature
Ontario Parks
Project Learning Tree
Queen’s University
Georgian Bay Turtle Hospital
Shawanaga First Nation
The Toronto Zoo
Town of LaSalle
University of Waterloo
University of Windsor

“2023 was a satisfying year for massasauga recovery at Ojibway Prairie because we completed our second successful overwinter test of proposed reintroduction sites using 12 massasaugas!”

– Jonathan Choquette, Lead Biologist

MOTTLED DUSKYWING

Erynnis martialis

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All species need food to survive. Unfortunately, mottled duskywings feed on plants that require dry sandy areas or limestone alvars. These sensitive areas are found in very few places in eastern Canada — and they’re also prime sites for human development. As a result, duskywings have been reduced to a few isolated pockets.

Today, WPC is helping these endangered butterflies bounce back. As part of the Ontario Butterfly Species at Risk Team, we’re assisting efforts to reintroduce
them to Pinery Provincial Park, the first-ever butterfly reintroduction in Ontario. Through conservation breeding and release, the team is increasing the size of the wild population to healthy, self-sustaining levels in areas where duskywings once thrived.

Photo: M. Polley

Fostering a butterfly boom at Pinery Provincial Park

Over the past three years, WPC has been part of a large collaborative research and recovery program to breed and release hundreds of these brown-spotted pollinators. Slowly but surely, wild populations are being rebuilt in the tallgrass prairie habitats at Pinery Provincial Park.

In Canada, mottled duskywings typically have one flight period — one generation of adults — per year. But the Pinery is far enough south that they have time for two flight periods. This gives the team more opportunities to release butterflies, track population numbers and monitor the habitat they use.

And there have been encouraging results. In 2023, the field crew found 120 adult duskywings during spring surveys in the park — a three-fold increase over the previous year! It’s a clear sign that the released butterflies are breeding.

Not only are there signs of breeding occurring, but biologists have actually witnessed it taking place at the Pinery! To ensure this comeback story continues, the recovery team released another 129 butterflies and five chrysalids in the spring and summer.

Public education is another important part of this work. In 2023, Pinegrove Productions completed its documentary about the mottled duskywing recovery program. The film —narrated by Sarah Harmer and featuring WPC field staff — will be available for public screenings in 2024.

Program Location

Southern Ontario

WPC Conservation Toolkit

Population Assessments
Reintroduction & Post-Release Monitoring

Program Partners & Supporters

Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory
Employment & Social Development Canada – Canada Summer Jobs
Natural Resources Solutions Inc.
Norris Lab, University of Guelph
NSERC  of Canada Alliance Grant 
Ontario Butterfly Species At Risk Recovery Team
Ontario Parks – Pinery Provincial Park
The Rogers Foundation
University of Guelph

“This recovery project is a step towards a thriving population of duskywing butterflies in Ontario. We’ve set many exciting new records so far!”

– Dolan Bohnert, Field Assistant for the Ontario Butterfly Species at Risk Team

BUTLER’S GARTERSNAKE

Thamnophis butleri

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Across southwestern Ontario, tallgrass prairies and open grassy areas have disappeared. And so have Butler’s gartersnakes — small, shy reptiles that depend on these habitats for survival. Today, this endangered species can only be found in a few clusters in the Sarnia and Windsor areas, where urban, industrial and agricultural developments are fragmenting and isolating their remaining populations even further.

In 2022, WPC started a new recovery project for Butler’s gartersnakes, leveraging many of the same conservation strategieswe’re using to save massasauga rattlesnakes. We’re improving our understanding of how habitat fragmentation impacts the species. We’re enhancing and reconnecting snake habitats. And we’re exploring translocation techniques to rebuild populations that have disappeared.

Photo: K. Woodhouse

Bringing Butler’s garter snake back to Ojibway Prairie

WPC is one of the few organizations in the world determining how to reintroduce endangered snakes in the northern hemisphere. One of the tools in our toolbox is a specially designed artificial hibernaculum.

These underground hibernation shelters allowed us to validate the suitability of release sites for translocated snakes, which we’ve successfully done with massasauga rattlesnakes. They’ve also allowed us to safely provide zoo-reared snakes with a hibernation period prior to release, an approach which may improve translocation success.

In August 2022, we took 15 newly birthed Butler’s gartersnakes from a healthy subpopulation, reared them at our facilities until mid-November, and then placed them in artificial hibernacula at a site where their numbers had declined — an historic first. Sixty-seven per cent of the hibernated snakes survived, validating our approach.

We headstarted those survivors, raising them for an additional three months in 2023 to give them an opportunity to grow. Then we released them back into the same site in summer 2023. Most of the released snakes were tagged with small microchips, which will tell us if any return to the release site to hibernate.

To further assist Butler’s gartersnakes in Essex County, our team enhanced four hectares of key habitat, removing 104 kilograms of invasive plants and 278 kilograms of garbage. Now, having collected eight more Butler’s gartersnakes for hibernation and translocation, we’re looking forward to more releases in 2024.

Program Location

Southern Ontario

WPC Conservation Toolkit

Reintroduction
Research
Education and Outreach
Habitat Restoration & Stewardship
Invasive species Control
Population Assessments
Population Monitoring
Threat Mitigation

Program Partners & Supporters

Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Canada
City of Windsor
Employment & Social Development Canada – Canada Summer Jobs
Essex Region Conservation Authority
Friends of Ojibway Prairie
Georgian Bay Turtle Hospital
Hydro One
LaSalle Woods Environmentally Significant Area
The Nature Conservancy of Canada
Ojibway Prairie Reptile Recovery Working Group
Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks
Species at Risk Stewardship Program
Ontario Parks – Ojibway Prairie Provincial Park Nature Reserve
Ojibway Nature Centre
Toronto Zoo
Town of LaSalle

“In 2023, the Ojibway Prairie Reptile Recovery team took some important steps towards the conservation and recovery of Butler’s gartersnakes — completing not only our first overwinter hibernation of Butler’s gartersnakes, but also the first translocation of individuals to augment a declining population!”

– Cory Trowbridge, Project Biologist

BLUE RACER

Coluber constrictor foxii

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The blue racer is one of the largest and fastest snakes in Canada. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the rarest. Although the species was once found across southern Ontario, habitat loss has reduced their numbers to a single population on Pelee Island.

Fortunately, on the island, much of this species’ preferred habitats are now protected, including grasslands, alvars, and open woodlands, providing an opportunity for this population to recover.

WPC joined the collaborative effort towards the conservation of the remaining blue racer population on Pelee Island in 2019. The aim of this project is to combat further declines and ensure that population’s long-term persistence.

Developing DNA detection tools

In 2019, WPC joined a coalition of partners to save blue racers, Canada’s rarest snake. Today, only a few hundred of these snakes exist, reduced to a single population on Ontario’s Pelee Island in Lake Erie. In 2023, WPC biologist Hannah McCurdy-Adams co-authored an award-winning scientific paper(1) on a breakthrough method for detecting blue racer DNA in the feces of wild turkeys, which may feed on the snakes. The tool will help scientists track the presence of blue racers, as well as the impact of predation. Our team also sent genetic samples of individual blue racers to Queen’s University for analysis. The results will reveal whether the Pelee Island population is genetically diverse enough to remain healthy — or if more action to increase genetic diversity may be required. Finally, as our three years of provincial funding wrapped up, we focused on outreach. We launched a project webpage. We created and distributed postcards and posters encouraging people to report reptile and amphibian sightings on Pelee Island. And we produced a video to raise awareness about the island’s species at risk.

1 Tournayre, O., Wolfe, R., McCurdy-Adams, H., Chabot, A. A., & Lougheed, S. C. (2023).
A species-specific digital PCR assay for the endangered blue racer (Coluber constrictor
foxii) in Canada. Genome, 66(9), 251–260. https://doi.org/10.1139/gen-2023-0008

Program Location

Pelee Island, Ontario

WPC Conservation Toolkit

Population & Needs Assessment
Reintroduction Feasibility Assessment

“It’s an honour to be part of a team developing new tools to detect rare and difficult to find endangered species. These new tools can help us do even more to recover these species.”

– Hannah McCurdy-Adams, Reptile and Amphibian Program Coordinator

BURROWING OWL

Athene cunicularia

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The burrowing owl is one of the smallest owl species, distinguished by its very long legs and short tail. It gets its name from its habit of nesting in burrows dug by animals such as ground squirrels, badgers and prairie dogs. Burrowing owls are also known as “Howdy Owls” because of their habit of bobbing up and down in a bowing motion, a behaviour that likely allows them to determine distance from multiple viewpoints. Young owls in the nest make a rattling sound similar to rattlesnakes to ward off predators. They are nocturnal, although unlike other owls, they are also active to a certain extent during the day. Burrowing owls feed on rodents, large insects (such as crickets, beetles and grasshoppers), and small reptiles and amphibians.

Photo: S. Shappas

Saying howdy to the new Burrowing Owl Alliance

The burrowing owl gets its name from its habit of nesting in burrows dug by animals like ground squirrels, badgers and prairie dogs. They’re also known as “howdy owls” because they’re often seen bobbing up and down, as if they’re bowing. With fewer than 1,000 pairs across Canada, they’re one of the country’s most endangered grassland birds.

In the past, WPC has supported conservation breeding and release programs, as well as the development of soft-release techniques. We are also well practiced in building conservation networks to save species at risk of extinction.That’s why the federal government’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Canada recently provided funding for WPC to coordinate a network uniting burrowing owl conservation organizations across Canada.

Founded in 2023, the Burrowing Owl Alliance combines our resources and knowledge with those of the Burrowing Owl Conservation Society of B.C., the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo, Operation Grassland Community, Nature Saskatchewan, and the Manitoba Burrowing Owl Recovery Program.

Recovering such a small population requires a lot of work, and every province within the owl’s Canadian range has its own unique challenges. But by working collaboratively, we can boost burrowing owl populations through conservation breeding and releases, habitat stewardship and public outreach.

Program Location

British Columbia, Alberta
Saskatchewan and Manitoba

WPC Conservation Toolkit

Breeding and Reintroduction
Creating Partnerships
Education and Outreach
Land Steward Engagement

“By drawing on a wealth of collective knowledge and efforts, we will bring this species back from the brink.”
– Hazel Wheeler, Conservation Programs Director

ONTARIO TURTLE WORKING GROUP

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Ontario is home to all 8 native turtle species found in Canada, including: wood turtles, eastern musk turtles, Blanding’s turtles, snapping turtles, spiny softshell turtles, northern map turtles, spotted turtles, and painted turtles (both midland and western sub-species).

However, almost all the species (all but the western painted turtle sub-species) are or are recommended to be listed as Species-at-Risk within the province, due to threats such as habitat destruction and fragmentation, road mortality human-subsidized predation, poaching, environmental pollution, and climate change.

Photo: Ontario Nature

Combining world-class expertise to save Ontario’s turtles

Ontario’s eight native turtle species face a myriad of threats. Shoreline development destroys nesting sites for spiny softshells. Cars collide with snappers sunning themselves on roads. Invasive zebra mussels crowd out the molluscs that northern map turtles eat. The list goes on. As a result, almost all of them are at risk.

In response, WPC formed the Working Group for the Conservation of Ontario Turtles (WGCOT) in 2020. One of our key tasks has been developing a headstarting protocol to add to the best management practices (BMP) guide for Ontario turtles — the most comprehensive of its kind in Canada.

We also leveraged funding from the federal government’s Habitat Stewardship Program to expand WGCOT, bringing more conservation practitioners to the table. And to foster even more high-impact collaborations, we incorporated WGCOT into the wider Ontario Turtle Conservation Network.

With the original funding now wrapped up, the group submitted a new grant application to ensure WGCOT’s important work continues — including finalizing the BMP, facilitating a conservation planning workshop for Blanding’s turtle and working with Indigenous communities using Two-Eyed Seeing approaches to conserve turtles.

Program Location

Ontario

WPC Conservation Toolkit

Capacity Building
Creating Partnerships
Facilitating Best Practices

“When I first began learning how to protect turtle nests and raise young turtles over ten years ago, I had no idea I would become a part of this amazing group of experts establishing best management practices that will be applicable across the country.”

– Hannah McCurdy-Adams, Reptile and Amphibian Program Coordinator

CANADIAN SPECIES INITIATIVE

Collaborating from the word go

Some conservation groups work with at-risk species within their natural environments (in situ). Protecting and managing habitat are good examples of this approach. Other groups — like WPC and many zoos — care for endangered animals outside of those habitats (ex situ) through programs like conservation breeding and headstarting.

The Canadian Species Initiative (CSI) brings those two sides together, recognizing the importance of collaboration. Co-founded by WPC and the African Lion Safari, CSI is guided by the IUCN’s Conservation Planning Specialist Group’s One Plan Approach: a proven method to reverse the decline of endangered species that emphasizes science-based, participatory and inclusive planning processes for species conservation.

In 2023 — CSI’s fourth year of activity — we focused on strengthening existing partnerships and developing new ones, laying the groundwork for new projects and building our capacity to deliver species conservation planning workshops.

Highlights included leading the first-ever conservation assessment for eastern mountain avens, a highly endangered flower in Nova Scotia with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources. Our CSI team and partners also hosted symposia about the application of the One Plan Approach to the conservation of eastern loggerhead shrike and woodland caribou and supported workshops for red wolf, whooping crane, and biobanking for conservation.

Program Location

Canada-wide

WPC Conservation Toolkit

Capacity Building
Leadership
Needs Assessment
Creating Conservation Partnerships
Enhanced Conservation Planning
Facilitating Best Conservation Practices

“It is great to see how the Canadian Species Initiative has grown over the last several years through building capacity and growing our conservation ‘toolkit’ to improve conservation planning in Canada.”

– Stephanie Winton, Canadian Species Initiative Coordinator

CANADA’S NEW NOAH

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Since 1988, the Canada’s New Noah program has given young biologists the opportunity of a lifetime. Each year, we select one post-secondary graduate to attend the Durrell Conservation Academy and then spend six months on the tropical island of Mauritius, working with some of the most endangered species on the planet.

Over the past 35 years, New Noahs have gone on to lead conservation organizations across the country. They’ve played key roles in the recovery of Canadian species like whooping cranes, swift foxes and northern leopard frogs and worked in almost every province and territory. Graduates of the program have also contributed to species conservation around the world and pioneered techniques that are saving species at risk, from California condors to sea turtles.

Photo: S. Falconer

Equipping a young biologist with powerful conservation tools

As our 32nd Canada’s New Noah, Sarah Falconer began her adventures at the Durrell Conservation Academy on the island of Jersey, located off the north coast of France. There, she studied endangered species management alongside a dozen students from 11 different countries. The intensive, 12-week course featured plenty of hands-on education covering everything from preparing meals for lemurs to learning how to breed threatened skinks.

But that was just the beginning. Sarah then travelled to the island of Mauritius in the western Indian Ocean for a six-month placement with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. While there, she scoured coral island forests for rare Günther’s geckos, fitted
tropical birds with metal ID tags, and hauled barrels full of saplings up steep volcanic slopes to establish new vegetation.

Along the way, she discovered what goes into creating successful recovery and reintroduction programs. She developed a professional network that extends around the world. She added important skills to her toolbelt, including pit-tagging, banding, surveying and using GIS to map optimal habitats for species relocations or forecast the impacts of climate change.

But the most important thing she learned as a New Noah is optimism. “Being a conservation biologist sometimes feels like you are navigating overwhelming odds,” Sarah says. “Above all else, my main takeaway is that conservation work like this is possible.”

Program Location

Jersey, UK (Durrell Conservation Academy)
Mauritius, Indian Ocean (Mauritian Wildlife Foundation)

WPC Conservation Toolkit

Capacity Building
Leadership

Program Funder

Alan and Patricia Koval Foundation

“As the 32nd New Noah, I feel more confident in my ability to affect positive conservation outcomes. I am so excited to move forward with applying these skills and knowledge to safeguard biodiversity in Canada.”

— Sarah Falconer, Canada’s New Noah

2023 HIGHLIGHTS

  • Wildlife Preservation Canada continues to break new ground with global and Canadian firsts for endangered species conservation, a testament to years of perseverance by dedicated people that truly love the animals they work with.

  • BEST BUMBLE BEE BREEDING SEASON ON RECORD

    By far the best bumble bee breeding season on record such that the conservation lab was overflowing with bees! Most exciting, the yellow-banded bumble bees (our focal species and a species-at-risk) in our care produced 131 queens compared to a previous high of 3. Our team has discovered how to breed this species in captivity, a major milestone for endangered bumble bee conservation. WPC is the only organization in the world developing conservation breeding and release techniques to save bumble bees from extinction. Photo: P. Smale.

  • THE ONLY ORGANIZATION REINTRODUCING ENDANGERED SNAKES IN CANADA

    WPC successfully hibernated 12 eastern massasauga rattlesnakes in innovative artificial hibernacula (pictured left) at future release sites at the Ojibway Prairie for the second year in a row. We also successfully overwintered Butler’s gartersnakes for the very first time. WPC is the only organization reintroducing endangered snakes in Canada, and only one of two global programs developing these techniques for snakes in the northern hemisphere. Photo: K. Woodhouse.

  • TAYLOR’S CHECKERSPOTS ARE PRODUCING THEIR OQN CATERPILLARS

    Last spring WPC raised 1,400 Taylor’s checkerspot caterpillars that were released at the reintroduction site on Hornby Island. This spring, survey teams observed more than 90 caterpillar clusters at varying stages of development, incredible news confirming that the released caterpillars survived to become adult butterflies that then produced their own caterpillars. Conservation breeding and releases are bringing checkerspots back to Hornby island. Photo: P. Archibald.

  • NEW METHOD TO TREAT OREGON SPOTTED FROGS FOR CHYTRID FUNGUS

    After the development of a new method to treat Oregon spotted frogs for the chytrid fungus, WPC staff successfully cleared all frogs of infection in time for the breeding season. Despite the possibility of a setback from treatment, our indomitable female frogs produced 6,000 tadpoles and 364 froglets for release to restored wetlands in the Fraser Valley. The monitoring team recorded a fourth consecutive year of egg laying by WPC released frogs at the reintroduction site, with a year over year increase in number of egg masses, indicating that the conservation breeding and release program is bringing the species back from the brink. Photo: P. Sardari.

  • HIGHEST NUMBER OF WESTERN PAINTED TURTLES EVER RELEASED IN THE PROVINCE

    WPC raised and released a record 212 western painted turtles in B.C. this past summer, the highest number ever released in the province. Across all release sites, we observed a total of 36 nests laid by WPC’s head-started individuals! This was a huge jump from 7 nests in 2022, and confirmation that the released turtles are reaching breeding age and rebuilding B.C.’s wild turtle populations.
    Photo: Ray Maichin Photography.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

A NOTE FROM OUR TREASURER

This has been a challenging year for WPC, with lower levels of government funding forcing difficult decisions in how we best utilize scarce resources to continue our important work. Fortunately, in 2023 we have seen strong growth in corporate and foundation donations, and relatively consistent individual donations that helped bridge the gap as our team adjusted our conservation programs. Ongoing support from all of our partners and donors is important to maintain and grow our multi-year programs impacting the endangered species we work with. We will continue to be careful to control our administrative costs, to ensure we can expand our important conservation projects into the future.

– Stephen Brobyn, WPC Treasurer (2023)

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Gerald M. Durrell OBE

Shripal Doshi

Bridget Stutchbury, Ph.D.

Randal Heide

Stephen Brobyn

Christopher Boynton

Jocelyn Brodie

Jay Bryant

Ron Cuthbertson

Tanya Davis

Ian Glen

Douglas Hart

Julie Wood

Chris Von Boetticher

Michael Chisholm

Kathryn B.P. Dempster

Louise Gervais

Craig Gilpin

Graham F. Hallward

Peter Karsten

Anson R. McKim

Stephanie McLarty

H. Alec B. Monro

William Noble

Thomas C. Sears

Eleanor R. Clitheroe

W. Paterson Ferns, C.M.

Stephen T. Molson

Lee Durrell, Ph.D.

Lance Woolaver Jr., Ph.D.

Photo: P. Archibald

SUPPORTERS

We want to thank our corporate, foundation, and individual donors who believe in our work and are willing to invest in the future survival of Canada’s wildlife. Your generosity is saving species from extinction.

An Anonymous Foundation
Alan and Patricia Koval Foundation
B.C. Conservation Foundation
BluEarth Renewables
Bremner Family Fund II
The Carol and Don Lyster Foundation
The Catherine and Maxwell Meighen
Foundation
The Chawkers Foundation
David Charitable Trust
Don and Hazel Williams Foundation
ECCC EcoCanada Science Horizons & Co-
op Youth Internship Programs
ECCC Habitat Stewardship Program for
Species at Risk
EmMeMa
Employment & Social Development
Canada – Canada Summer Jobs
Entomological Society of Ontario
Environment & Climate Change Canada –
Priority Places
Environment & Climate Change Canada
EcoCanada Science Horizons & Co-op
Youth Internship Programs
The Eyford Foundation Fund, held at
Vancouver Foundation
Grant MacEwan Nature Protection Fund at
the Calgary Foundation
Hall & Brown Wildlife Conservancy
Foundation
Hallward Fund at Toronto Foundation
Hodgson Family Foundation
Holy Trinity School
Humble Bee
J.P. Bickell Foundation
K.M. Hunter Charitable Foundation
King Foundation – Ottawa Community
Foundation
Kingston Solar LP
The Land Between
Leon Judah Blackmore Foundation
Nashville Zoo at Grassmere
Natural Resources Solutions Inc.
Nova Scotia Department of Natural
Resources and Renewables
Ontario Ministry of Environment,
Conservation and Parks Species at
Risk Stewardship Program
Ontario Parks
Ontario Power Generation
Panacea Products Corporation
Pollination Guelph
Pollock Family Fund held at
Waterloo Community Foundation
The Printing House / Sleeping Giant
RBC Community Investment Tech
For Nature Fund
The Rogers Foundation
smpl Design
ScottInc Limited
Sunset Community Foundation
TD Friends Of The Environment
Foundation
Takla Foundation
The Westaway Charitable
Foundation
Wilder Institute
Wilyn Pharmacy

James McBey
Irene Rigold
Irene Bodner
The Sherling Legacy

Anonymous Donor

Anonymous Donor
Barbara Alderson
Scott Boese
Chris Boynton
Stephen Brobyn
Sara Brown
Janet Caravan
Bill Caulfeild-Browne
Elizabeth Churcher
Lori Cohen
Brian J. Dawson
Marsha Duncan
Areez Gangji
Rosanne Gasse
Dennis and Valerie Gielens
Dorothea Godt
John Grandy
Douglas Hart
Emily Hildebrand
Richard Johnson
Lee Joyes
Linda Kaser
Claire Kennedy
Gail Luckhart
Brian Luckman
Rod MacFadyen
Eric Maki
Carole Marshall
Sarah McComb-Turbitt
Anson McKim
Catherine McLean
Sriti Mizan
Alec and Joyce Monro
Anthony and Nancy
Netting
Amani and Neil Oakley
Roberta Olenick
Catherine B. Richardson
Gregory Richardson
Andres and Anna Saroli
Christian Schroeder
Bridget Stutchbury and
Gene Morton
Rob Tiarks
Julie Wood

Julia Amies
Brian Armstrong
Keith Armstrong
Mr. & Mrs. David andMavis Atton
Anne and Ryan
Benninghaus
Constance Boldt
Martha Jo Breithaupt
Ruth Bucknell
Deanne Buller
David Charlton
Cindy L. Clarke
David Clement
Simone Desilets
Bruce Dowling
Tanya Dryden
Anne Girbav
Ian and Suzanne Glen
Maura Hamill
Randal Heide
David Hope
Ken Hough
Lawrence Hubble
Viola Loewen
Marion E. Magee
Judith Mcintyre
Kathryn and Gordon
Nicholson
Janis Nitchie
William J. Noble
Christopher Richards-
Bentley
Julia Richmond
Brian Simmons
Pam Snider
Rita Sorensen
Corlene Taylor
Laurie White
Ken and Lynda Whiteford
Peggy Wilson

Wildlife Guardians are a special group of dedicated individuals who support our work through recurring monthly donations. Wildlife Guardians make it possible for our conservation teams to help endangered animals throughout the year by providing steady funding.

Brenda Aherne
Debbie Allen
Jane Amro
Carollyn Andrews
Lori Antifave
Cindy Barr
Darby Bayly
Eva Bednar
Anne Benninghaus
Ingrid Betz
Monica Betz
Nancy Biehl
Constance Boldt
Frank & Margaret Both
Alice Boudreau
Paul Bourque
Katherine Bowen
Rosemary Bower
Elke Breutigam
Peter Bridger
Jocelyn Brodie
Ruth Bucknell
John Capin
Nathan Carlson
Eugenia Carson
Shivani Chandrakumar
Anne Chisholm
Richard Chiu
Elizabeth Churcher
Cindy Clarke
Maurilio Cocca
Colin Creasey
Donald Creelman
John Crookshank
Nancy Crossen
Anne Curtis
Ron Cuthbertson
Patricia Dairon
Kathleen Dallman
Monique Desaulniers
Simone Desilets
Jean Desrochers
Steve & Rosemary Digby
Jean Anne Dilcock
M. Charles Dobson
Shripal Doshi
Bruce Dowling
Tanya Dryden
Cris Dunbar
John Edmond
Joan Fenske
Scott Findlay
Leslie Finglear
Jessica Fraser
Sebastien Garon
Marie Giesel
Dorothea Godt
Diane Gooderham
Fiona Griffiths
David Grosvenor
Lucy Guest
Margaret Hallward
Maura Hamill
Rachelle Hansen
Cassie Harding
Carol Hargreaves
Konrad Harley
Shirley Harris
Douglas Hart
Randal Heide
Ryan Henderson
Guillermina Herbert
Emily Hildebrand
Shelly Hobbs
Flor De Maria Horta-Ash
Laura Hostick
Carolyn Hudson
Lilianne Humberset
Theresa Ichino
Jolanta Jason
Martha Johnson
Janet Kellam
Mark Kennedy
Claire Kennedy
Patricia Killingworth
Richard Klotz
Ivars Kops
Bethany Kort
Jelena Kurtovic
Mireille Lapensee
Rachel Laprade
First Name Last Name
Don and Kathy Lea
Lyne Leclerc
Lucinda LeClercq
Raynald Lemelin
Cynthia Leslie
Joyce Litster
Sarah Litterick
Viola Loewen
Dolores MacDonald
Kathleen MacNamara
Marion Magee
Cindy Manderscheid
R. Gordon Marantz
Sarah Matheson
Joan McCordick
Penelope McCracken
Denise McCready
Robyn Mcgowan
Judith Mcintyre
Anson McKim
Stephanie McLarty
N. Clare McMartin
Michelle Monteith
Bob Morgan
Gayle Morton
James Neelin
Kathryn Nicholson
William Noble
Brenda-Lee Normey
Raphael O’loughnan
Donna Pearson
John Peterson
Chiquita Phillips
Anthony Michael Pires-
Belchior
Hannelore Plonka
Jen Pressey
Maurice Prevost
Philip Price
Christine Quibell
Shirley Rahmann
Shannon Rancourt
Lea Ray
Ellen Reinhart
Catherine Richardson
Johanne Rioux
Silvia Rodriguez
Lisa Rosenberger
Mitchell Rowe
Anna and Andres Saroli
Drew Sauve
Nancy Sawers
Kelly Schaus
Lorraine Scott
Christina Sharma
Marian Sinn
Donald Stark
Matt Stead
John Stewart
Anneliese Stoeger Alarie
Bridget & Gene Stutchbury
Brett Sura
Margaret Symons
Gina Taylor
Enid Irene Varney
Wendy Verkerk
Chris Von Boetticher
Ann Walsh
Anne Ward
J. Michael Watts
Alisa Weyman
Louise White
Amy Whitear
Annette Wiegand
Dalene Wilkins
Danielle Williams
Peggy Wilson
Judy Winton
The Winton Family
Lance Woolaver
Patricia Wrightsell
Hongjin Zhu

ON THE HORIZON

On the horizon for 2024 is first and foremost to capitalize on the momentum of each of our recovery programs. We are excited to see wild populations continue to grow as we increase our release efforts. Of particular note is the expansion of western painted turtle monitoring and headstarting beyond the Fraser River valley, taking the methods we’ve proven to work to restore turtle populations along the Sunshine Coast of B.C. We have also secured permission under the Endangered Species Act to begin conservation translocations of massasaugas to the Ojibway Prairie in the summer of 2024. This will be a monumental leap forward for Canada’s only snake reintroduction program.

A new species and program in 2024 will be the conservation of the western purple martin, a beautiful songbird that requires active intervention through provision of nest boxes to save them from disappearing from B.C.

Two species that WPC has past experience with are coming back. In 2024 we will be bringing together all of Canada’s burrowing owl conservation organizations as an active network. This will include development of outreach materials and a central website to share information amongst all potential partners and the public, and to assist landowners to be responsible habitat stewards for burrowing owls and other grassland species. WPC will also once again be involved in hands-on conservation of Blanding’s turtles. We will be assessing the population in the new Windsor National Urban Park so we can provide best practice recommendations to protect and restore this striking turtle to the landscape.

All the advancements and growth in our endangered species conservation programs are thanks to you, WPC’s supporters, staff, board of directors, and volunteers. Thank you for supporting the work through the peaks and valleys that are a natural part of conservation, and for setting WPC up for even more successes to come.

Dr. Lance Woolaver Jr.
Executive Director

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