Endangered Animals In Canada

Canada’s Species At Risk Public Registry lists over 600 Canadian animals and plants. The country’s “at risk” living things are classified as either Endangered, Threatened, or of Special Concern, based on how rapidly their populations are declining.

Mammals on the registry include 18 Endangered species, 12 Threatened species, and 17 species of Special Concern.

Birds on the registry include 27 Endangered species, 20 Threatened species, and 19 species of Special Concern.

Listed reptiles include 14 Endangered species, 13 Threatened species, and 9 species of Special Concern.

Amphibians: 7 Endangered species, 6 Threatened species, and 7 species of Special Concern.

Fish: 25 Endangered, 13 Threatened, and 22 species of Special Concern.

Insects and other arthropods: 18 endangered species, 6 Threatened species, and 5 species of Special Concern.

Mollusks: 12 Endangered Species, 2 Threatened species, and 4 species of Special concern.

Endangered Canadian mammals include two caribou species: The Peary caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi) and the Atlantic-Gaspesie population of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). Also listed as endangered are Ord’s kangaroo rat, the Pacific water shrew, the Eastern wolverine population, and 7 whales, including both the Atlantic and Pacific populations of blue whale, and the Southern population of killer whales (photo, above).

Endangered bird species in Canada include the Northern bobwhite quail, the Acadian flycatcher, the ivory gull, the Eskimo curlew, the white-headed woodpecker, the greater sage grouse, and the burrowing owl.

Canadian reptile species that are endangered include the Eastern foxsnake, the greater short-horned lizard, the prairie skink, the Lake Erie watersnake, the Western painted turtle, the leatherback sea turtle, and Blanding’s turtle.

Fish species that are endangered in Canada include the nooksack dace, the pugnose shiner, the Western brook lamprey, the inner Bay of Fundy population of Atlantic salmon, the Pacific population of basking sharks, 4 species or subspecies of sturgeon, 8 species or subspecies of sticklebacks, and the Atlantic whitefish.

Species of arthropods that are endangered in Canada include the dusky dune moth, the non-pollinating Yucca moth, and the cobblestone tiger beetle.

Endangered Canadian mollusk species include the rayed bean, the round pigtoe, and the snuffbox.

The Species At Risk Public Registry also lists Canadian species that have already been extirpated from an entire region, or have gone completely extinct. These extirpated or extinct species include the prairie population of grizzly bears, the black-footed ferret, the Atlantic walrus, the gray whale, the timber rattlesnake, and the Karner blue butterfly.

To learn more about Canada’s endangered and threatened species of animals visit the Species at Risk Public Registry and the Nature Canada website.