Threatened species, the sage grouse could completely disappear from the Prairies

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An Alberta government census released last month shows there are only 45 sage grouse remaining in the province. (Archive photo)

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The latest Alberta data offers little hope for the sage grouse's future: The round-bodied bird, long one of Canada's most endangered species, may be on the verge of disappear forever from the natural landscapes of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Mark Boyce, professor of ecology at the University of Alberta, believes that populations of this bird, considered the largest of its species in North America, are on the brink of collapse.

The situation is desperate. They will disappear, that's almost certain, says the researcher, who has studied the sage grouse for decades.

Sage grouse are once numbered in the thousands, even hundreds of thousands, in Canada, with a range spanning 100,000 square kilometres.

Today, fewer than 100 remain. Their range in southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan has shrunk to less than 10% of what it once was. #x27;she was.

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“Uninhabitable” Gaza: Palestinian territory degrades under assault -48221190-4 hnvfyV”>An Alberta government census released last month shows there are only 45 sage grouse left in the province. Last spring's count recorded 17 males, down from the 22 counted in 2022.

According to the provincial report, only 3 of the 38 known leks in Alberta are still active. A lek is an open expanse where birds gather each spring to mate.

In Southern Saskatchewan Grasslands National Park, only 24 males were seen during the spring 2023 count on the only remaining leks in the province.

Sage grouse are particularly vulnerable as Western Canada braces for summer drought that could further damage pasture habitat, says Mark Boyce essential.

He said habitat loss caused by industrial development posed the greatest threat to the species. Unlike other birds that can thrive near humans, the sage grouse is particularly sensitive to any form of disturbance.

The noise caused by a piston pump used in an oil well or the construction of fences or power lines are factors that can push it to leave an area.

The species has been listed as threatened in Canada since 1998. It was designated as threatened in Saskatchewan in 1999. Alberta did the same the following year.

Staff numbers continued to decline, however, and in 2013, in response to legal action, Ottawa passed an emergency protection order for the x27;species.

To stop the destruction of sage-grouse habitat, the protection order placed strict restrictions on provincial and public lands where the birds are found.

Mark Boyce said the order was essential, but more needed to be done to preserve the few remaining viable habitats.

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The spring mating ritual, which is a spectacle in itself, has made this species popular with biologists and ornithologists. (File photo)

Joel Nicholson, senior wildlife biologist with Alberta Environment, remains hopeful that conservation efforts will be successful.

Alberta researchers are working with landowners, industry and scientists across the Canada-U.S. border to help bolster existing populations, says -he.

This work includes efforts to rehabilitate private pastures, a seed program that will ensure the planting of sagebrush on abandoned oil sites, and the introduction of new birds into the wild.

In addition, around forty females from Montana, equipped with GPS trackers, will be released in Alberta in the spring to try to strengthen the population.

I really hope we can keep them in Alberta, and it won't be for lack of trying if we lose them.

A quote from Joel Nicholson, biologist

Miles Anderson's ranch, south of Fir Mountain in southern Saskatchewan, is the ;one of the last places where sage grouse can be found in the province.

Besides, it's the ritual spring mating, which is a spectacle in itself, which has made these birds very popular with biologists and ornithologists. The males, whose dappled brown star tail feathers are clearly visible, then gather in the leks and begin their characteristic dance to seduce the females.

With information from Wallis Snowdon