In the middle of the forest in western Quebec, Paul Wabanonik looks for fresh tracks of moose, also known as moose. He is on his people’s ancestral lands, where he has hunted his entire family life. “Normally we should see tracks everywhere we go,” explains this Anishinaabe hunter. But “there is the desert.”

The only visible traces in this forest, hundreds of kilometers north of Montreal, are those of the fire that ravaged it in June. The landscape, usually colored in shades of red in autumn, now gives way to blackened or charred trees and only a few young green shoots.

No forest area, almost nothing to eat: hardly a chance of seeing animals again soon, concludes the broadly built man who is used to introducing the youngest in his community to traditional hunting.

“Hundreds of thousands of animals” have disappeared

The exact number of animals that died in these fires is not known, “but there are hundreds of thousands,” says Annie Langlois, a biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Federation, who speaks of “drama.”

Beavers, coyotes, skunks, wolverines (or North American wolverines), red foxes, bears… the Canadian boreal forest is home to 85 species of mammals, 130 species of fish and 300 species of birds, including many migratory birds. But the historic fire season that hit Canada this summer has hit the country hard. 18 million hectares of land went up in smoke, equivalent to a third of mainland France.

Annie Langlois points out that certain species can quickly become trapped because they are unable to fly or run fast enough and over long distances in the face of “very intense” and rapidly advancing fires. And in some areas, fires broke out very early in the season, leaving barely born babies with no chance of survival.

Very serious consequences for aquatic fauna

The consequences are also very serious for the aquatic fauna. In addition to the ash that ends up in lakes and rivers, soil erosion also changes the water quality through the loss of vegetation.

“Young animals are often more sensitive to the effects of smoke”

In addition, wildfire smoke particles contain a higher proportion of carbon-based pollutants in various chemical forms, sometimes settling hundreds of kilometers away. And they have “acute or chronic impacts on wildlife health,” explains Matthew Mitchell of the University of British Columbia. “Young animals are often more vulnerable to the effects of smoke, as are humans,” he adds, and “even marine animals such as whales and dolphins are affected when they surface to breathe.”

Species are fleeing north

Almost 700 species are already considered threatened in Canada, largely due to habitat destruction. And in the long term, fires place an additional burden on these areas already damaged by deforestation. This is the case with caribou, a Canadian icon that lives in ancient forests.

The fires could also exacerbate an ongoing phenomenon: As warming occurs, certain species are fleeing north. For example, the lynx that Gabriel Pigeon is tracking with radio collars has sought refuge 300 kilometers from his territory because of the fires, while his “home range is generally 25 square kilometers.”