ABNC’s Grassland Blog Series

Endangered Animals of BC Grasslands

By Calista Foisy, BSc

Grassland ecosystems support some of the highest biodiversity among all ecosystems. So what happens when these grasslands are fragmented, degraded or destroyed? This biodiversity is greatly impacted. Grasslands in BC are the home to a large proportion of life that is at risk in Canada. 

At risk classifications are often confusing as there are multiple levels of organization that use different terms. Federally, organisms/ecosystems may be listed as (in ascending severity): special concern, threatened, vulnerable or endangered. However, provincially here in BC we use a colour system: yellow-listed, blue-listed, red-listed, where red is provincially endangered or possibly extirpated. Extirpation meaning that an organism is not wholly extinct, but has completely disappeared from a given area.  

With our BC grasslands becoming more fragmented and degraded, we see a number of organisms from every life group being classed as blue or red listed. From reptiles to birds, insects to mammals and even plants, a lot of life that calls grasslands home is disappearing alongside the sensitive ecosystem. 

American Badger (Taxidea taxus jeffersonii) – Red-listed

Badgers are nomadic and solitary animals that build their burrows in grasslands. They are not rodents as many believe, but are members of the weasel family. Badgers occupy large home ranges, and will move to areas of their range where resources (such as food) are more abundant. They are nocturnal and specialize in digging, both of which contribute to their typical hunting strategy. Badgers will smell out burrows of sleeping rodents (marmots, ground squirrels and voles) and use their digging prowess to surprise their prey. Badgers also depend on their digging to build their own burrows as homes. However, they will typically abandon their burrow after a season or two and build a new one in a new location. This leaves a burrow open for many other animals to move in, one to note being burrowing owls. Due to their carnivorous habits and their providing burrows for other organisms, badgers are a keystone species in our grasslands. 

As they are nomadic, badgers depend on continuous stretches of grasslands. Our BC grasslands are no longer continuous stretches. Much of our grasslands are fragmented by roads, human settlement or agriculture areas.This forces badgers to cross these areas to access different parts of their range. 

Wild badger populations are now very low. There is only an estimate of 300 adults in the entirety of BC, with about 35 of those being in the Okanagan. This population decline started with persecution of badgers as an agricultural pest. In more recent years, road mortality and habitat loss are the leading causes of population decline.

Great Basin Spadefoot Toad (Spea intermontana) – Blue-listed 

Typically, we do not think of amphibians as natural residents of our grasslands. However, spadefoot toads are specialized to thrive in drought conditions, making them resilient to the arid conditions of our BC grasslands. They use their “spade” on their back feet to burrow underground to spend the hottest hours of the day where it is cool and perhaps moist. They will emerge in the coolness of the night to feed, mate and travel. Despite being perfectly suited to our grasslands, they are still amphibians and need access to water. They typically make use of ephemeral (temporary) ponds as nursery spots for their eggs. 

Due to the now fragmented nature of BC grasslands, it is a dangerous endeavour for spadefoots to find ponds suitable for their needs. As spadefoot toads are grassland specialists, they are vulnerable to change in quantity as well as quality of grasslands. They are often victims of road mortality or recreational offroading in grassland spaces. While great basin spadefoot toads are not yet classified as endangered, with the continued lack of protection for our grasslands, they will be among the next organisms to become endangered, extirpated or extinct. 

Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) – Red-listed, extirpated in North Okanagan 

The only owl that nests in burrows underground in the arid grasslands. Despite the name, burrowing owls cannot dig their own burrows, they rely on abandoned burrows from other animals, such as badgers or ground squirrels. These unique owls have been extirpated from the North Okanagan since around the 80s, primarily due to loss of habitat and suitable nest spots. Their homes have been converted for human use; into agriculture or housing areas. The animals that they depend on to build their burrows are also affected by grassland conversion, and persecution by humans. These factors compound their negative effects on the remaining burrowing owl population.  

Despite the dire situation that burrowing owls find themselves in, there is hope on the horizon. There are active breeding programs to help bolster the wild population. However, there is still a lot of work to be done, as the wild populations are not yet self-sustaining. While these breeding programs can get the species part of the way to no recovery, it is critical that we protect the remaining grasslands to support burrowing owl populations.   

These are only three examples of many organisms who use the grasslands and are currently facing population declines that are correlated to the loss of our grasslands. We are at a point where protecting our little remaining grasslands is critical for the survival of these species.

Calista Foisy is the Programming Lead at the Allan Brooks Nature Centre. She holds a degree in Biology with a focus in Ecology and Environmental Biology, bringing a science minded approach to the programming at ABNC. In her role at ABNC, Calista is responsible for leading educational programming, primarily for youth but extending to all ages and demographics. She has found passion within her role being able to spark interest and passion in our natural world for the next generation. She enjoys being able to teach all ages new things about the environment, and being able to communicate high level scientific concepts to the general public.

At The Centre, you may find Calista leading field trips, summer camps or other public event tours. She is always happy to answer any questions or have a chat about our ecosystems!