Wildlife Preservation Canada

This GivingTuesday we asked our community of dedicated supporters to step up for wildlife, and you amazed us once again with your generosity.⁠ ⁠ All of us at Wildlife Preservation Canada are incredibly grateful for the support, thank you.⁠ ⁠ The wildlife conservation community is UNSTOPPABLE.⁠ ⁠ If you’d like to support WPC, there’s still time! Help us wrap up the year on a high note and make a meaningful difference for endangered Canadian wildlife💚⁠ https://lnkd.in/ebdE_rfq ⁠ 📹️Wetland footage courtesy of P. Sardari

Happy Giving Tuesday💚⁠ ⁠ For today only - every donation to WPC will be matched dollar for dollar, up to a total of $35,000 thanks to a generous, anonymous donor! This is your chance to make a difference for endangered Canadian species on the brink of extinction.⁠ https://lnkd.in/gncZ5pBY ⁠ At Wildlife Preservation Canada, we’re committed to hands-on, species-saving work for Canada’s most endangered animals — from breeding threatened bumble bees to reintroducing songbirds and snakes back into the wild, here at WPC, we give back directly to nature.⁠ ⁠ This GivingTuesday, double your impact and help create a future where Canada’s most vulnerable species do not disappear, but thrive.⁠ ⁠ Let’s save our wildlife together.⁠ ⁠ 📸A. Bowman⁠

Imagine a world without the humble bumble bee…. We don’t want to.⁠ ⁠ For as little as $15, $25, or $50, you can help us keep Canada’s bumble bees buzzing by supporting our one-of-a-kind bumble program.⁠ https://lnkd.in/gP324ytM ⁠ At WPC’s Bumble Bee Conservation Lab, we’re doing what’s never been done before: breeding and overwintering the yellow-banded bumble bee in captivity for release—a global first! By giving these essential pollinators a fighting chance, we’re protecting a vital part of our ecosystems and food supply.⁠ ⁠ Help keep the buzz alive with your support. Tap the link in our bio to donate today! 💚⁠ ⁠ P.S. Did you know? 90% of all flowering plants—including most of the fruits and vegetables in your fridge—depend on these pollinators to reproduce!⁠ ⁠ 📸 T. Kerekes⁠

Send some holiday cheer AND help save endangered wildlife ✨⁠ ⁠ Our holiday ecards are here! With any online donation, you can send a beautifully designed ecard to someone special, showing you care about them AND wildlife 🐝⁠ https://lnkd.in/gP324ytM ⁠ You can download and print them for your correspondence, or email them to your loved ones.⁠ ⁠ That's not all - you can make your gift go further this season by donating this GivingTuesday! On December 3, and for one day only, every dollar donated will be matched.⁠ ⁠ Give today and spread the joy of conservation 💚⁠

📺️⁠ ICYMI - Hannah McCurdy-Adams, WPC’s Reptile and Amphibian Development Coordinator, was recently on CTV Your Morning discussing the most Canadian animal - and no it’s not the beaver or the moose!⁠ In a recently published paper from Hannah (WPC) and researchers at Simon Fraser University, the evolutionary distinctiveness of Canada’s animals has been determined and not only are amphibians and reptiles among the most evolutionarily distinct, but the spiny softshell turtle has topped the list.⁠ ⁠ Don't miss out on Hannah's insights - watch the full interview now on our website and learn more about the team's incredible work.⁠ ⁠ ⁠#WPC #Canadianwildlife #canada #canadian #explorecanada #biodiversity #wildlife #conservation ⁠ ⁠ 📜Kominek, E., Cornies, O., McCurdy-Adams, H., and A.O. Mooers. 2023 [2024]. Evolutionary isolation of Canadian terrestrial vertebrate species. The Canadian Field-Naturalist 137:367-380.⁠

We're making progress 💪⁠ ⁠ Join us for our next instalment in this series - where we discuss what we can learn from past articles!⁠ ⁠ 🐍The Essex county population of massasauga rattlesnakes used to be abundant and widespread. So abundant that residents would consistently find massasaugas in their backyards - like this man featured in an article from the Windsor Star in 1951.⁠ ⁠ Here we can see a man had found a massasauga in his yard and immediately killed it. This area where the man had lived, is now a heavily urbanized part of Windsor, Ontario, with little habitat to support wildlife. With urban sprawl and city expansion, we have significantly lost critical massasauga habitat which has contributed to the severe decline in the population.⁠ ⁠ But finding articles like these are a great learning opportunity!⁠ ⁠ Historical news articles like this one give us a glimpse into the past. It tells a story of an endangered snake that was killed out of fear, and also provides more insight into the historically large range of the massasauga. We can also see that in the past, using words like "terrifying" while discussing this snake or describing the encounter as one someone narrowly escaped, likely fed into the fear surrounding this species.⁠ ⁠ As Ontario’s only remaining venomous reptile, the massasauga rattlesnake has faced widespread persecution, despite the fact that it poses little threat to public safety. In First Nations traditions, the massasauga rattlesnake is the medicine keeper of the land — a reminder to tread lightly and to take only what we need.⁠ ⁠ We’ve lost so much of their habitat, but now we have the opportunity to protect what remains and work toward restoring their population. We can also work to dispel the fear that surrounds these beautiful snakes 💚⁠

Come work with us!⁠ ⁠ For 20 years, WPC has led efforts to save the critically endangered eastern loggerhead shrike, by breeding and reintroducing them into the wild, as well as restoring natural habitats and monitoring populations.⁠ ⁠ Our team is looking to fill an 11-month placement to assist the Lead Biologist in activities related to eastern loggerhead shrike recovery.⁠ ⁠ Think you might be the perfect fit? Your passion for conservation can make a difference!⁠ ⁠ 🔗⁠ https://lnkd.in/e2ZHWf9Y ⁠ 📸 An eastern loggerhead shrike is visually sexed by checking the coloration and patterning of feathers, specifically the extent of black colour extending up the rachis of the 6th primary. (photo taken by J. Spero). It's also important to note that loggerhead shrikes are a federally protected, endangered species and should only be handled by permitted, professionals. More about WPC's eastern loggerhead shrike program: After a precipitous drop in the wild eastern loggerhead shrike population in the 1990s, Environment Canada invited Wildlife Preservation Canada to lead the multi-partner recovery effort in 2003. Since then, the wild population size has fluctuated. Studies have shown that although the recovery effort has prevented the species from disappearing from Canada, more work is required to identify and address the causes of the species’ decline. WPC works to prevent the eastern loggerhead shrike from disappearing by building the wild population in Ontario, and studying the species to learn more about the threats they face.

Only one week away! December 3 is GivingTuesday 🗓️⁠ ⁠ At Wildlife Preservation Canada, we’re committed to hands-on, species-saving work for Canada’s most endangered animals — from breeding threatened bumble bees to reintroducing songbirds and snakes back into the wild, here at WPC, we give back directly to nature.⁠ ⁠ Every dollar given on December 3 will be matched FOR ONE DAY ONLY and can help cover unexpected costs throughout the year, like Tutu's retirement plan. ⁠ So mark your calendars and double your impact.⁠ ⁠ See you then!⁠

Did you know that without WPC's work over the past two decades, the endangered eastern loggerhead shrike would have disappeared? It’s the only conservation program in the world recovering a migratory songbird through conservation breeding and reintroduction.⁠ Your $50 donation today can make a lasting difference for Canada’s endangered animals - like the beloved ‘butcher bird’ who would’ve disappeared without this program 💨 https://lnkd.in/gP324ytM When you donate, your support directly funds groundbreaking work—from increasing endangered frog populations to reintroducing rare butterflies and bumble bees to the wild. Every dollar has an immediate impact on Canada’s most vulnerable animals. Help us keep these species thriving with a year-end gift that goes straight to where it’s needed most: the animals. 💚 Donate today and make a difference! 📸 H. Hess #community #support #wildlife #conservation #endangered #songbird #2024

Sleepy bees!🐝⁠ ⁠ Remember those bumble bee queens that started their winter's nap last month? Get a closer look at their home for the winter - in these photos from their most recent checkup!⁠ ⁠ Before we know it, these queens will be ready to produce their own colonies in the spring, and we can't wait! 💚⁠ 📸C. Blair ⁠ More about WPC's bumble bee program:⁠ Since the 1990s, bumble bee numbers have been plummeting, and that spells ecological disaster. Ninety per cent of all flowering plants — including most of the fruits and vegetables in your fridge — need these pollinators in order to reproduce. Until the causes of these declines can be reversed, conservation breeding and reintroduction is the only way to safeguard at-risk bumble bees. Today, WPC is the only organization in Canada rebuilding wild bee populations through conservation breeding. Thanks to recent breakthroughs, we’ve figured out how to dramatically increase the number of queens we produce. Once they’re released into the wild, they can establish their own colonies, producing hundreds of pollinators to sustain the ecosystems around them.⁠