| Prairie Chickens Newest Extirpated | 14 December 09 |
 The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) met November 23-27, 2009 to assess the risk of extinction for Canadian Wildlife Species. 28 Species were assessed and three species, the Greater Prairie Chicken, the Grey Whale of Canada's East Coast and the Dwarf Wedgemussel were extirpated. Extirpated means these species no longer exist in the wild in Canada.The Prairie Chicken once covered the prairies of Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario by the thousands but have not been seen for over 20 years. New genetic evidence suggests this bird had been in Canada for 9000 years and that in the 1900's there were estimated to be at least a million Prairie Chickens breeding in Canada. The Prairie Chicken is still found in parts of the United States and conservation efforts are in progress. The Grey Whale has not been seen in Canadian waters since the 1800's and the Dwarf Wedgemussel has been extirpated since 1999. View December 2, 2009 CBC press releaseView November 30, 2009 COSEWIC press release View November 2009 COSEWIC Wildlfie Species Assesment (PDF) Sources: COSEWIC and CBC news |
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