5 Endangered Species in Quebec… and Solutions to Protect Them!

May 11, World Endangered Species Day, spotlights five threatened or endangered wildlife species in Quebec.

“We talk a lot about the loss of biodiversity, but fortunately there is good news too! “, stresses in an interview with metro Pascal Côté, scientist at Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), an organization dedicated to saving flora and fauna.

“We are no longer in the 1970s: today we know the species well and many measures have been taken. That doesn’t mean that all species are doing better now, but there is an awareness, a change in mentality,” adds the conservation expert, who draws a portrait of five species.

Western Choir Frog

main threats

It is the destruction of its wetland habitat that is particularly threatening to this frog that has been making headlines in recent years. Above all, agricultural activities and new housing developments have particularly damaged wetlands, says Pascal.

protective measures

A new provincial law that Regional plans for wetlands and bodies of water, obliges the regional counties (MRC) throughout the province to present plans to protect this environment by June, he says. “It’s a good step forward. There are many RCMs that have never done this: conservation plans for natural environments. »

There are also programs designed to encourage farmers to take protective measures when tree frogs invade their land, and many are responding positively, the expert says.

beluga

main threats

The threats are not new. The beluga from the St. Lawrence estuary was hunted and pursued until the 1970s because it was considered harmful at the time and was mistakenly believed to be depleting fish stocks, explains Pascal. “Planes dropped bombs on herds of beluga whales to kill them.” The hunt was eventually banned.

In addition, pollution of the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes later contaminated the belugas’ food chain. “It was a landfill, there was no wastewater treatment, especially no industrial wastewater,” says Pascal. Although cancer is no longer the leading cause of belugas mortality, noise from maritime traffic is a part of it, as it interferes with how people communicate underwater.

From around 7,000 to 10,000 individuals in the beginning there have now been 900 individuals, says Pascal, who is moved to see this mammal in the river, when it lives mainly in the Arctic.

protective measures

According to Pascal, a provincial-federal-managed marine park was established in the 1990s that bans certain industrial activities there, including mining, oil and gas. The two government agencies also announced plans to expand it earlier this year, he stresses.

bald eagle

main threats

As with most raptors, the reproductive rate of this fish-eating species is high collapsed in the 1950s and 1960s when a widely used pesticide, DDT, contaminated its food chain. The birds then laid eggs with shells too thin to be viable, Pascal says. The DDT ban then changed the game.

The bald eagle was also shot at a certain time as many birds of prey were being pursued and hunting was prohibited. Pascal says it has experienced a meteoric boom since the 1980s. “There are breeding pairs in several regions in southern Quebec, which was unthinkable 20 years ago. »

protective measures

Regulations in forestry take into account the nesting of the species and require that a buffer zone be demarcated around a nest. The foresters are also obliged to follow up, emphasizes Pascal.

bobolink

main threats

The bobolink nests on the ground rather than high up, particularly in field hay crops, which in southern Quebec have been largely replaced by corn and soybeans for 30 years, leading to its decline, explains Pascal.

Also, while mowing used to be done later in the summer to give the bobolinks time to nest and the chicks to leave the nest, now mowing is done repeatedly and earlier in the season, leading to nest destruction, the expert explains.

protective measures

Farmers who take measures to protect birds on their land can use support programs. And it works, assures Pascal. In addition, the rural areas protected by the NCC are home to forage crops that are mowed late enough for terrestrial birds like bobolinks to nest peacefully.

little brown bat

main threats

In the last fifteen years, the number of native bat species, i.e. those that do not migrate to warm areas in winter, has fallen massively. The cause? THE White Nose Syndrome, a disease transmitted by a fungus native to Europe that spread very quickly from New York state in the early 2000s, explains Pascal. In almost a decade, the resident population has declined drastically.

The fungus develops primarily in cold and damp environments such as caves, caverns and mines, precisely where bats hibernate in groups.

protective measures

Because the fungus also spreads through human clothing and tools, cavers are taking strict hygiene measures to prevent its spread, says Pascal.

If a bat is found in or near your home, the site is Bats in animal shelters is a valuable resource for knowing what to do and potentially avoiding death. The expert emphasizes that it is even possible to build dormitories.

To know everything threatened or endangered wildlife species from Quebec