List made of species unique to Canada
OTTAWA — For the first time, Canadian biologists have come up with a list of plants, insects and animals that live only in this country and say many of them are in danger of extinction — if they haven’t already died out.
Nature Conservancy of Canada biologist Dan Kraus said when the United Nations report on global biodiversity warned a year ago that as many as one million species around the world were at risk of extinction, it prompted discussions in Canada about conservation efforts here.
“We were surprised that there wasn’t a comprehensive list of Canadian species that only occur in Canada,” said Kraus.
Nature Conservancy worked with the network of experts through NatureServe Canada to study at least a dozen national and global databases looking for species that had only ever been documented in Canada. They came up with an initial list of 308, with 167 others that are possibly endemic, meaning they live only here, but need more study.
Almost half the known endemic Canadian species are invertebrates, including 21 butterflies, 40 moths and 25 kinds of beetles. There are also 21 mammals, 11 birds and 109 kinds of plants.
Kraus said almost 40 per cent of the species and subspecies on the list are considered critically imperilled or imperilled and eight are extinct, including the Dawson caribou, Labrador duck and the Vancouver Island blue butterfly.
Of the 21 mammals on the list, two-thirds are considered at risk. Only 10 per cent of the endemic species are globally secure, the report said. Canada’s national assessment body, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, has studied just one-fifth of the total number.
Kraus said Canada must make a bigger effort to identify and protect its own species because no one else is going to do it.
“There is no Plan B,” he said. It’s why they named the report “Ours to Save,” he said.
Kraus also hopes Canadians will feel the need to take ownership of these species and do more to learn about risks to wildlife in Canada. “A big part of this report is increasing that awareness,” he said. “If you ask the average Canadian to name an endangered species they may not even name a Canadian species.”
Kraus said the species listed “all have incredible stories.” How they survived the last glacial period, how they were discovered, how they evolved over thousands of years, are all interesting tales, and some are spectacular to look at.