A number of endangered plant and animal species in the western Canadians province of Alberta are barely hanging on by a thread, according to a new report.
The Alberta Conservation Society found that while the swift fox, once on the brink of extinction, is now gaining momentum, it remains in the "at risk" category, along with other species such as the trumpeter swan and the piping plover.
The General Status of Alberta Wild Species 2005 report found that about 56 per cent of the province's wild species are secure, while 24 are on the endangered or threatened list, 298 species "may be at risk" and another 354 are deemed "sensitive."
Other at risk species include the Canadian toad, the short-eared owl, five types of fish, and the prairie rattlesnake, which is increasingly meeting its demise on Alberta's busy roads and highways.
By the mid 1950s, the swift fox, nicknamed the Prairie phantom as it can run at a speed of 60 km/h, had completely disappeared in Canada. It was re-introduced from the American Prairies in the 1970s, and although can now sustain its population on its own in the wild, it is still on the endangered list.
Presently, close to 1,000 swift foxes have re-inhabited Alberta, 99 per cent of which were born outside captivity. This is an increase from the 1996/7 report showing 81 per cent born in the wild.
Currently, the Centre for Conservation Research at the Calgary Zoological Society is involved in a recovery and reintroduction program for five other species including the burrowing owl, the northern leopard frog, and the whooping crane.
Loss of habitat is considered to be the greatest threat to Alberta's plant and animal species. Many of the species deemed sensitive in the report are increasingly impacted as development progresses, particularly in areas containing fossil fuel deposits.
Global warming represents a second front in the battle for habitat. Animal conservation groups worry that climate change will eventually mean a transformation of the prairies into a desert-like region, thus eliminating the habitat that animals such as the swift fox depend on.
The 2005 report assessed 2811 species, including birds, mammals, reptiles, butterflies, amphibians, fish, gastropods (snails), bivalves (clams), odonates such as dragonflies, and vascular plants such as wild roses.
Alberta produced the status report as part of its commitment to a national agreement designed to prevent wild species from becoming endangered due to human activity. Under this agreement, all provinces and territories are obliged to produce a wild species status report every five years.
Feeds