Collaborative conservation planning for a snake on the brink
Posted onOctober 20, 2025byStephanie Winton|Conservation Planning, News and EventsPhoto: H. Fotherby, NRSI
What is Conservation Planning? Long-term conservation of endangered species continues to face new and emerging challenges, such as novel diseases and the impacts of climate change. In today’s world, the view that all species can be effectively conserved with minimal management simply by creating large areas of protected habitat is unrealistic. There is an increasing need for active management and long-term human intervention, guided by strategic plans that are tailored to the conservation needs of species. Wildlife Preservation Canada is proud to host the Regional Resource Center for CPSG in Canada. CPSG Canada is part of a global network of facilitators trained to deliver species conservation planning workshops that apply the One Plan Approach. CPSG Canada is hosted by Wildlife Preservation Canada (WPC) and supported by members at African Lion Safari and Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo.
The Carolinian population of Gray Ratsnake (Pantherophis spiloides) in Ontario is at imminent risk of extirpation; restricted to just a few fragmented locations north of Lake Erie, estimates of population size suggest that fewer than 250 individuals remain in the wild. The species faces multiple, ongoing threats, including habitat loss and fragmentation, road mortality, and human persecution due to fear or misunderstanding, combined with the genetic and demographic risks associated with having very small, isolated populations.
Natural Resource Solution Inc. (NRSI), who have been monitoring the status of this unique population for nearly a decade and conducting extensive landowner engagement, have launched a collaborative conservation planning initiative to develop a Conservation Action Plan for the protection and recovery of the Carolinian population of Gray Ratsnake.
To support this effort, CPSG Canada recently conducted a series of online technical workshop sessions to assess population viability as recommended by participants of the Multispecies Ex situ Conservation Assessment for Canadian Snakes in 2021. The goal of this analysis, conducted by CPSG Canada member Amy Chabot (African Lion Safari), is to improve understanding of the demographics and population status and identify critical threats and recovery opportunities.
Gray ratsnake on a tree. Photo: Ryan Wolfe.
In September, NRSI presented on the project at the Canadian Herpetological Society annual meeting held at the Université Laval in Québec City. The presentation highlighted the collaborative nature of the planning process for Gray Ratsnakes, why it is urgently needed now, and the application of modelling population viability to inform development of the action plan.
Results of the Population Viability Analysis will be used in a final in-person workshop in November, which will bring together ecologists, geneticists, biologists, and local experts to address the complex challenges facing this cryptic species and agree on priority conservation actions. Following the One Plan approach, which promotes integrated conservation planning for all populations of a species by all interested parties, workshop participants will consider in situ efforts, such as protecting and restoring habitat, mitigating road mortality, and continuing to strengthen community engagement and education, as well as ex situ efforts, such as conservation breeding and release programs. Stay tuned for the outcomes of this essential initiative!
Stephanie Winton
CPSG Canada Convener and Conservation Planning Coordinator
Stephanie was Wildlife Preservation Canada’s 31st Canada’s New Noah in 2022 and has returned to WPC to apply her experience in integrated in situ and ex situ conservation management approaches and facilitation of species conservation planning workshops to build capacity and enhance conservation planning for species at risk in Canada. Stephanie holds an MSc from Thompson Rivers University where she researched the impacts of road mortality on western rattlesnake populations in BC and has over ten years of experience in conservation and research with a diversity of threatened species in Canada and globally, including burrowing owls, tiger salamanders, northern leopard frogs, black-tailed prairie dogs, and Mauritian reptiles.
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