Have you heard?

Emerging Leaders for Biodiversity Podcast

meadow in sunset

Bunchberry Meadows Ellen

Edmonton, Ab

North American Congress for Conservation Biology

When a common species needs help, what’s a conservationist to do?

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10 interesting facts about endangered species

Endangered Species Week – Loggerhead Shrike

Happy World Migratory Bird Day 2020!

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Happy World Migratory Bird Day 2020! Wildlife Preservation Canada wanted to take some time to make a small shoutout to one of their favourite local migrants, the loggerhead shrike! Read on to find out how work being done by the Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Team relates to this year's World Migratory Bird Day theme "Birds Connect Our World".

New Noah returns home: a bittersweet journey

Contributing to Community Science: One Volunteer’s Experience in Bumble Bee Conservation

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Depending on where you live in Canada, the snow may already be melting, revealing early signs of spring. If you’re an avid gardener, you might already be thinking about what plants you want to add to your property this year. While it’s…

Louisiana Loggerhead Shrike Gets in on Bacon Mania

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Look who's bringing home the bacon! Louisiana researchers were astonished when they came across a very unexpected (and delicious) Loggerhead Shrike larder item...

Quest for Queens

green Echo Parakeet

Echo Parakeet

American badger (Taxidea taxus jeffersonii)

American Badger jeffersonii subspecies

You can find the jeffersonii subspecies throughout western North America, from California north to southern B.C. and east to Colorado. In Canada, only a few hundred remain, in the grasslands and dry forests of B.C.’s interior.
Hungerford's Crawling Water Beetle

Hungerford’s Crawling Water Beetle

Hungerford’s crawling water beetle is only found in three rivers in Ontario’s Bruce County and five rivers in northern Michigan. Small changes to their aquatic homes could have big impacts on this globally rare insect.
Blanchard’s Cricket Frog (Acris blanchardi)

Blanchard’s Cricket Frog

A subspecies of the northern cricket frog, Blanchard’s cricket frog is the most aquatic type of tree frog in North America. Despite many searches, there hasn’t been a confirmed record of this species in Canada since the early 1970s.
burrowing owl and blue sky

Burrowing Owl

The burrowing owl nests, rests and stores food in the abandoned burrows of mammals such as badgers, ground squirrels and prairie dogs in prairie grasslands and now is one of the most endangered birds in these areas.
Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii)

Blanding’s Turtle

Habitat loss and fragmentation, and nest predation by raccoons and skunks, are the most significant threats to Blanding’s turtle populations. Other threats include motor vehicle collisions and illegal collection for the pet trade.
Karner Blue Butterfly on branch

Karner Blue Butterfly

The karner blue depends upon wild lupine, where it lays its eggs. The Karner blue’s 25-millimetre wingspan isn’t the only reason these tiny butterflies are hard to spot. As of 1993, the Karner blue has disappeared from Canada.
Microbats huddled together

Microbats

These small, brown-haired bats typically weigh about as much as a toonie or loonie. Bats eat insects and can play an important role in getting rid of some bugs that are considered as pests in forestry and agriculture.
Eastern foxsnake (Pantherophis gloydi)

Eastern Foxsnake

Although eastern foxsnakes have proven to be adaptable when it comes to humans encroaching on their territory — for example, using sheds and other structures for shelter — increased development is putting this unique species at risk.

Live from Dodoland

Mottled Duskywing on flower

Mottled Duskywing

The plants that mottled duskywings feed on require dry sandy areas or limestone alvars found in very few places in eastern Canada. Unfortunately, these sensitive areas are also prime sites for human development.
Ord’s kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ordii)

Ord’s Kangaroo Rat

In southern Alberta, one of the province's most endangered animals is gradually, inexorably dwindling away due to habitat fragmentation. It is not a direct relative of the invasive brown rat and doesn’t spread disease or harm crops.
prairie butterfly on yellow flower

Prairie Butterflies

Since the 1850s, over 99 per cent of North America’s native prairies have been lost to agriculture and overgrazing, putting the survival of many prairie species, including several butterflies, in serious jeopardy.
Swift fox (Vulpes velox)

Swift Fox

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Smaller than a housecat, this is one of the tiniest foxes in the world. Wildlife Preservation Canada began working with the swift fox in the mid-1990s, when we helped establish a small, self-sustaining population.
Mauritius Fody in tree

Mauritius Fody

Bumble bee on flower

Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee

One of the most common species of bumble bee in southern Ontario as recently as the 1980s, this hard-working pollinator is now on the brink of extinction throughout its large range. It has not been observed in Canada since 2009.

Eastern Loggerhead Shrike

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Taylor's Checkerspot

Taylor’s Checkerspot

As native grasslands are lost, the survival of the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly hangs in the balance. Because of its sensitivity to changes in its habitat, it is considered an environmental indicator for the health of the entire ecosystem.
Fowlers toad (Anaxyrus fowlerii)

Fowler’s Toad

Fowler’s toad is facing a severe threat of extirpation from Canada. They occur in Canada only along the northern shore of Lake Erie in extreme southern Ontario. One of the biggest threats facing Fowler's toad habitat is the spread of an invasive reed.
swallow hirundo green background

Swallows of the Maritimes

This group of aerial insectivores has experienced greater declines than any other group of birds in North America. In Canada, the trend is most severe in the Maritimes. Understanding the reasons for decline is a key first step in recovery.

Massasauga Rattlesnake

The Massasauga is Ontario’s only remaining venomous reptile, but despite widespread persecution, it poses little threat to public safety. In First Nations traditions, the Massasauga is the medicine keeper of the land.
Northern map turtle (Graptemys geographica)

Northern Map Turtle

Water pollution poses a serious threat to northern map turtles, killing off the molluscs that female turtles depend on. In addition, invading zebra mussels in the Great Lakes region have crowded out native molluscs.

Oregon Spotted Frog

Now on the brink of extirpation from Canada, this frog is found only in British Columbia's lower Fraser Valley, where it is believed that only 300 breeding individuals remain in small, widely scattered remnant populations.
Pacific pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata)

Pacific Pond Turtle

The Pacific pond turtle was once a familiar sight in the ponds and lakes of southern British Columbia and Vancouver Island and along the west coast as far south as California and Mexico. This species is no longer found in Canada.
piping plover and baby

Piping Plover

The endangered piping plover is extremely sensitive to disturbances on the beaches where it nests. As a result, it is not uncommon for adults to abandon viable nests. The Great Lakes region has experienced the most dramatic declines.
Vancouver island marmot (Marmota vancouverensis)

Vancouver Island Marmot

The Vancouver Island marmot is Canada’s most endangered mammal and one of the rarest mammals in the world. Although conservation breeding and reintroduction programs have given this species a fighting chance, it continues to teeter on the brink of extinction.
roseseate tern flying

Roseate Tern

The roseate tern is a graceful creature whose white, forked tail looks like long streamers when in flight. This endangered seabird experienced sharp declines during the 1970s. Today, there are fewer than 250 adults in Canada.
Snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

Snapping Turtle

Snapping turtles are hunted, poached and hit by vehicles. Since they can take nearly 20 years to reach maturity, removing even a few adult snapping turtles can pose a serious threat to the population.
Yellow-Banded Bumble Bee

Yellow-Banded Bumble Bee

Because they use nectar and pollen as their source of fuel, protein and nutrients, yellow-banded bumble bees love habitats that offer plenty of flowers. This can include meadows, grasslands, wetlands, forests and farms.
Spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera)

Spiny Softshell Turtle

Due to shoreline development and agricultural activity, spiny softshell turtles have faced significant habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation. They are easily disturbed during nesting.

Mauritius Kestrel

Native only to Mauritius, the Mauritius kestrel was historically found throughout the island. By the early 1970s, its range was reduced to the mountainous Black River Gorges in southwestern Mauritius.
Spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata)

Spotted Turtle

Spotted turtles are the most cold-tolerant Ontario turtle species and are the first to emerge to bask in the spring — sometimes sunning themselves next to mounds of melting snow.
Western painted turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii) Pacific Coast Population

Western Painted Turtle

Western painted turtles prefer the shallow waters of ponds, lakes, marshes and slow-moving streams. They are the largest subspecies of painted turtle, with a shell that can reach 25 cm long.

Pink Pigeon

The pink pigeon used to be widely distributed throughout its endemic island of Mauritius. They have been brought back from the brink of extinction by intensive conservation techniques.

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WPC is headquartered in Guelph, Ontario on the homelands of many nations, including the Anishinaabek, Neutral, Métis, Mississauga, and Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and on the treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. We work across Turtle Island, and have deep gratitude to all the Indigenous Peoples who have been, and continue to be, stewards and protectors the lands on which we rely.

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