Newsletter: Alberta released sage-grouse status report
March 13, 2024
- •
- •
- •
Alberta’s latest report on the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) should be a warning: if urgent action is not taken, Canada will lose this unique species.
Sage-grouse have been listed as Endangered for decades. Yet, despite this status and the protections and efforts towards recovery, the prairie species is continuing to slide towards extirpation. In February, the Government of Albert released a report confirming the plight of the species: last spring, only 18 males were counted at 3 lek sites, and the total Alberta population is estimated at 54 individuals.
The survival of Alberta’s population has relied on captive breeding and translocations from Montana, using outside individuals to bolster numbers and improve genetic diversity. The current population is likely too small to be self-sustaining, and would have been lost without these interventions. Still, although these additional releases may be saving the population from extirpation, they can only be a temporary measure.
For sage-grouse to recover, they need habitat. The encroachment and development of the prairies continues to be the greatest threat to sage-grouse, especially as sage-grouse are highly sensitive to human development, and populations declined rapidly with oil and gas expansion. Recently, helium extraction is also affecting southeastern Alberta, driving the sage-grouse from some of their last remaining territory.
Sage-grouse are only one of a number of prairie-reliant species that are at risk of extirpation or extinction. Their disappearance signals more than the loss of an iconic species; it is a warning for the declining health of the prairie ecosystem. If we lose greater sage-grouse, other species are likely to follow, and if we are not careful, Alberta’s native prairies could soon be no more than a memory.
