A diversified and preserved fauna
Wherever you are in Western Canada, wildlife is an integral part of the scenery and people have embraced the principle of living together
Mammals
To find out who's behind the wildlife of Western Canada, head to the Calgary Zoo, one of the largest and most visited zoos in Canada. The more adventurous will head straight to the UNESCO World Heritage National Parks of the Rocky Mountains, including Jasper, Banff, Yoho, Kootenay, and others, to hike the bucolic trails that crisscross the world's most beautiful landscapes. Great Divide Nature Interpretation offers guided excursions within the parks in the heart of biodiversity.
Further north, Yukon Wildlife preserve, a wildlife reserve where you can see bison, elk, and other northern wildlife up close.
The Rocky Mountains are home to a large animal population. Among the most impressive species are cervids such as moose, elk, deer, roe deer, but also caribou. Carnivores such as wolves, bears, wolverines (or wolverines) populate the region. The current estimate is a few thousand wolves, ranging from Alaska to northern British Columbia. This inhabitant plays an essential role in maintaining populations by eliminating the weakest individuals. Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary is home to several rescued wolves and offers guided and interactive interpretations.
Rocky Mountain goats and Dall's sheep live in the high mountains. They are easily discernible in the summer, when the white colour of their coats stands out from the rock faces. Muncho Lake Provincial Park in British Columbia is a favourite place to see them. Small furry animals such as groundhogs, beavers and martens, members of the Mustelidae family, have furs ranging from fawn to black. There are three species of bears in western Canada: polar bear, brown or grizzly bear, and black bear, the latter two of which have well-established populations. In the Yukon alone, there are approximately 15,000 grizzly bears throughout the territory. Their diet consists of 80% plant material, which they supplement with salmon, rodents, carrion, and more rarely elk or caribou. Grizzly bears can be observed at Moraine Lake where they roam frequently. Other carnivores are present such as lynx, foxes, coyotes, to name only the best known. Foxes are found just about everywhere and are not difficult to spot in the parks.
The marine fauna
In British Columbia, the Pacific coast offers a wide range of notable marine mammals such as whales, killer whales, seals, sea lions and porpoises. The best way to observe them is to go on a cruise to meet them with the Prince of Whales company on Vancouver Island. Marine mammals are the main attraction on the Pacific Northwest Coast for wildlife viewing, and the Vancouver Aquarium, the largest in the country, is a testament to their active presence on the site. Don't miss Pacific Rim National Reserve, a marine and forest environment in the mountains of the Pacific Coast. The killer whale is certainly the most emblematic of the marine mammals of the northwest coast. Adulated by certain Indian tribes, this master of the oceans lives mainly along the coasts of British Columbia. Its (partial) census reports 750 individuals divided into several dozen groups, the majority of which live in Prince William Sound and the southeast. It has no predators other than humans and feeds mainly on fish. Seals, sea lions, sea otters may be part of its diet but on a less regular basis. They can be observed along Vancouver Island. Grey whales are also very present and come to the Bering Sea after giving birth in the California Baja. This journey takes them about 16,000 km per year. With a size of up to 15 m and a weight of 41 tons, the gray whale travels as far as Alaska to find a choice food made up of crustaceans living in the mud that it filters through its baleen. The average daily consumption of a grey whale is 1,200 kg of crustaceans, which represents a consumption of 18 tons per whale during its passage through Alaska. Other marine animals such as the sea calf, fur seal, bearded seal, ribboned seal, marbled seal, drop seal, sea lion and sea otter also live between the coasts of Alaska and British Columbia, in varying numbers. So it's hard to miss the marine wildlife when you go to the coast. On the river side, they are abundant in the western provinces. Populated by salmon, sturgeon and trout, they provide food for many animals, such as bears, in addition to playing an essential role in biodiversity. Each species adapts to a well-defined environment depending on vegetation, water flow and temperature
The Birds
The birds do not fail to fly over these great spaces and go through very perilous stages throughout their lives. The blue jay, olive-sided flycatcher and common nighthawk can be identified in the Rocky Mountains.
The emblematic bald eagle winters in Squamish, considered the eagle capital of the world. Brackendale Eagles Provincial Park provides opportunities to view thousands of birds, including bald eagles, from late November to January, attracted to the fish-bearing Squamish and Cheakamus rivers.
The snowy owl, also called ookpik by the Inuit, likes the prairies when it winters. It is a member of the owl family and breeds and lives mainly on the tundra. The Pacific Rim National Reserve is home to more than 300 species of birds, some of which migrate from Latin America. This reserve is located on the Pacific Flyway. In order to have a chance to see migratory birds such as the Snowy Owl, it is advisable to visit the area from September to February. Waterfowl and many other birds gather in the heart of this wildlife reserve.
Vermilion Lake is a coveted area, a source of food for eagles and herons.
Also visit the Haida Gwaii Archipelago which, in addition to its many marine mammals and its large black bear population (about 10,000 representatives), is home to the largest concentration of peregrine falcons in North America, but also to other birds mentioned above such as the heron or, more majestically, the bald eagle, also known as the bald eagle
Each of these living beings plays an essential role in biodiversity and regulates the balance between prey and predators. The numerous wildlife reserves and interpretation centres mentioned above demonstrate the importance of the animals that help maintain habitats and their living environments.
The main vegetation zones
Most of Canada is covered by large forests. White pine and oak grow on poor soils. On rich upland soils, which have often become agricultural, grow hardwoods, sugar maple, American beech, birch, and a softwood, hemlock. Elm, ash, red maple, and cedar grow on wet lowlands. As the latitude increases, conifers mix with deciduous trees, and balsam fir and spruce are already abundant in the northern forest.
Able to adapt to various climatic conditions as well as to various physiographic and geological changes, the vegetation of western Canada is magnificent and varied. From west to east, from the Pacific coast to the prairies, western Canada passes through several different vegetation zones.
Coastal Zone
Mountain Zone
The Mountain Zone is divided into three distinct main zones:
-The subalpine zone includes large coniferous forests. The subalpine zone includes large coniferous forests. The growing season in this area is during the summer. In winter, the plants are covered by snow which acts as insulation. Wildflowers, cranberry, white flowering rhododendron are scattered throughout the area. In addition to the moisture present in the soil, the taiga is criss-crossed by an infinite number of bodies of water, some slightly higher than others, which communicate: it is a game of lakes whose water flows in stages from one to the other to end up in rivers, then in the sea. The innumerable rivers, often long and wide, also function as stairs: large bodies of water interspersed with rapids and waterfalls. Lakes and rivers provide a wealth of wetlands, shallow stretches of water linked to the soil that supports them: ponds surrounded by vegetation, peat bogs, swamps and marshes of fresh or salt water. Glacier National Park is home to a coniferous forest typical of the interior of British Columbia and permanent glaciers. Mount Revelstoke National Park is home to a forest of cedar, a coniferous species also known as western red cedar, a thousand year old and spectacular mountains.
As one moves from the subalpine to the alpine zone, the forest becomes increasingly scarce. The taiga is gradually disappearing in favour of the arctic tundra due to the colder, drier climate, giving way to creeping plants such as lichen and spongy soil covered with thick mosses.
-The alpine zone has a very short growing season. Lichen growing on rock, soil and trees, and moss are the main plants in the alpine zone. These ecosystems are a source of food for many animals, including caribou. Wildflowers known as white cassiope, campanula tomenteuse, silage silkwort, eight-petalled mountain avens are found here. The only remaining trees are the thorny and whitebark pines that can be seen on the rocky shores at the top of Sulphur Mountain in Banff.
-The ice deserts and mountains of the Canadian Arctic are virtually lifeless environments. The ground is glacial only, forbidding all flora and therefore all fauna, while the high winds and altitude add to the rigours of the polar climate. These environments are protected in Auyuittuq National Park, which encompasses the Penny Ice Cap on Baffin Island in the territory of Nunavut.
Alberta's Great Plains and its Badlands
Tothe west, in southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, the Great Plains of the central United States reach their northern limit. Stretches of prairie grasslands have gradually disappeared in front of the fields. As a symbol of these vast expanses, the bison now live in the wild only in Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta, where its population is increasing. Wood Buffalo National Park is also the only nesting site for the whooping crane, which has almost disappeared. The Canadian aspen parkland is home to aspen aspen poplars. It is the transition zone par excellence between the boreal forest in northern Alberta and the southern prairies. Periodic flooding is vital to the prairies and makes their soil fertile.
The foothills are high hills east of the Rocky Mountains occupied by the boreal forest that transforms the landscape between the mountains in northern Alberta and this region. Further south in Alberta, the contrast is striking as one suddenly moves from the mountains to the prairies. The road from Banff to Calgary demonstrates this abrupt transition.
Finally, the Badlands, the very arid east-central region of Alberta where cacti grow and dinosaurs once lived. An unusual lunar landscape, Drumheller Provincial Park, where the largest number of dinosaur bones in the world have been found, and HorseShoe Canyon, carved and shaped by the glaciers that once occupied the area, are two must-see sites for a trip to Western Canada.Current issues and risks
Endangered species
-Woodland caribou are declining significantly in the face of habitat shortages and changes in predator populations. A great lord of the tundra, they are found in the Yukon and Alaska. They live in herds and migrate most often in the spring.
-Morse also migrate, but remain between the Russian and U.S. coasts in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. Its current population is about 20,000, but scientists have been particularly concerned over the past decade or so because of low birth rates. No explanation has yet been put forward
-Wolverines are becoming less and less numerous and their reproductive rate is getting lower and lower. Within the parks, parks are being asked to notify the authorities directly if it is seen so that they can track it down and study its case, which is becoming increasingly worrisome
-The Dark Swift, a discreet and rare bird species.
-The Bighorn sheep is one of the populations at risk.
-The grizzly bear, which has been repelled for generations. It once occupied an immense territory stretching from Alaska to Mexico. Its loss of habitat is justified by the presence of man
-The whitebark pine that grows on the mountain slopes. It is home to the American nutcracker bird, which contributes to the tree's survival by planting its seeds when it comes to feed on its bark. If the tree were to disappear, then the nutcracker would disappear too.
Elk Island National Park is an important refuge on the plains of Alberta to protect rare or endangered species such as bison, elk and elk populations and is home to over 250 species of birds.
Ingenious and effective protection plans
Wildlife bridges, tunnels and fencing along the Trans-Canada Highway are infrastructure put in place to prevent collisions with animals on the roads. Developed following the twinning of the Trans-Canada Highway in 1980, 44 animal crossings have been constructed, including 6 bridges or overpasses and 38 tunnels. A study shows that more than 167,564 animals including wolves and bears have crossed these wildlife corridors since 1996 in Banff, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks.
