Bird News
Ducks Unlimited Canada has invested over one million dollars in wetland conservation projects impacting nearly 49,000 hectares in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and Newfoundland Labrador.
Officials in Brockville, Ontario have endorsed a motion to authorize a series of goose-control measures in the city’s waterfront parks, including the use of scare devices with “bangers,” lower waterfront gates and the planting of 30 rugosa rose bushes.
The province of Manitoba has announced the compilation of a province-wide breeding bird atlas, one of the largest citizen scientist volunteer efforts ever conducted in the province.
Wildlife experts across the country have noticed migratory birds returning several weeks ahead of schedule, due to the unusually warm spring weather.
Mammal News
Seal predation is being blamed for the loss of about 2,000 rainbow trout from a fish farm operation off Coffin Island, Nova Scotia.
A lack of sea ice in one of the warmest Canadian winters on record and a European boycott have caused the seal hunt to close early. Most of the hunters stayed home, unable to find buyers for their catch or stymied by a lack of ice floes.
Data released through a Freedom of Information request has shown that at least 164 animals were killed in the Alberta oilsands over the last eight years, although some of the deaths were due to highway collisions, natural causes and predators.
While the province of Newfoundland has blamed predators for the drastic decrease in the numbers of woodland caribou, logging of the boreal forest is a more likely reason, according to a big game outfitter.
The question of how to classify Canada’s polar bears under species-at-risk legislation is the subject of a three-day public hearing in Nunavut this week.
Herptile News
A Cornwall, Ont. man has been fined $4,000 for selling and offering to sell snapping and western painted turtles on the internet.
The disappearance of western painted turtles from a Vancouver, BC lake has officials concerned about the ecological condition of the lake.
Fish News
A growing number of Canadian supermarkets are opting to sell sustainably sourced seafood, a movement that expects to see only eco-friendly certified fish available by 2013.
Fishermen in the Great Lakes are being asked to document the occurrence of sea lampreys, which have invaded the Great Lakes and are decimating native fish species.
Insect News
The Vineland Research and Innovation Centre in Ontario is researching biological ways to control pest infestations, to reduce chemical use.
Ecosystem News
The Federal government has committed $1 million for research into the effectiveness of wildlife crossings through Banff National Park. Twenty more crossings are planned to protect animals from vehicle deaths.
Pelee Island residents are concerned about the development of a large wind turbine project in one of Canada’s most prominent protected areas, which is internationally famed for its birds and rare species of vegetation and wildlife.
A paper published in the journal of the University of Calgary’s Arctic Institute of North America, reports the Devon Island ice cap, one of the largest ice masses in the Canadian High Arctic, is thinning and shrinking.
Environmentalists are alarmed that BC Hydro may be considering a $2.5-billion hydroelectric dam project that would extend almost six kilometres into a nature conservancy in the Great Bear rainforest.