Frequently Asked Questions

The B.C. Wildlife Act defines wildlife as all native and some non-native amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals that live in B.C. For some provisions of the Act, the definition includes fish, and other B.C. legislation defines some insects and plants as wildlife.

• B.C. is home to more than 1140 native species of vertebrates, including 488 bird species, 136 mammal species, 16 reptile species, 20 amphibian species, and 480 fish species.
• 152 wildlife species and sub-species are considered candidates for endangered, threatened, or vulnerable status. Three of these are legally designated (by the provincial government) as endangered in BC: the Burrowing Owl, and the American White Pelican and the Vancouver Island Marmot. The Sea Otter is designated as Threatened. Other species are under consideration for listing.

Management of wildlife in Canada is shared by the federal, provincial, and territorial governments. Federal responsibility includes protection and management of migratory birds as well as nationally significant wildlife habitat, and responsibilities for endangered species, control of international trade in endangered species, research on wildlife issues of national importance, and international wildlife treaties and issues.

For the most part, provincial and territorial wildlife agencies are responsible for all other wildlife matters. These include conservation and management of wildlife populations and habitat within their borders, issuing licenses and permits for fishing, game hunting, and trapping, guidelines for safe angling and trapping and outfitting policies.

The biggest threats to wildlife are activities that destroy habitat. For example, urbanization (replacing greenspace (rural) areas with cities and towns) is destroying wetlands - home to species such as the Sandhill Crane and the Great Basin Spadefoot Toad.

The Ministry of Environment works with other agencies to conserve species and habitats and reduce the risks to wildlife from humans. For example:

• The Habitat Conservation Trust Fund gives more than $5 million a year to fish and wildlife conservation projects. Most of its funds come from surcharges on angling, hunting, trapping and guide-outfitting licence fees. Hunting is a way of life for many British Columbians. Our strict hunting regulations help to conserve wildlife species and habitats;
• The Conservation Data Centre (CDC), Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management, identifies "at risk" species and habitats and produces information for scientists, naturalists and the general public. ( See our new Endangered Species and Ecosystems in British Columbia website);
• The Canadian Wildlife Service (part of Environment Canada) handles federal wildlife matters, and, with the provincial ministry, co-manages migratory birds;
• Organizations like the BC Wildlife Federation and the Federation of BC Naturalists help conserve British Columbia's fish, wildlife, park and outdoor recreational resources.

Five ways that YOU can help to save wildlife:

• Create a home for birds and frogs in your own backyard, patio, or neighbourhood. Use native plants in your garden to help save them from extinction. Need help? Call Naturescape toll-free: 1-800-387-9853.
• Help endangered species, for example, by adopting a Vancouver Island Marmot. Visit the Vancouver Island Marmot homepage or call toll-free: 1-877-462-7668.
• Join a conservation organization or a habitat enhancement project.
• Encourage friends, classmates or others to work together on a project to enhance habitats, or raise money for the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund. Call toll-free: 1-800-387-9853.
• Increase your wildlife knowledge-join a natural history society, visit the museum in person or on-line at http://www.rbcm.gov.bc.ca; see the BC Conservation Data Centre or visit the Biodiversity & Wildlife Branch website at http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/ ; take a training program such as Conservation Outdoor Recreation Education (CORE) call 1-800-533-2293 or go on-line at BC Wildlife Federation.

Understanding animal health requires the collection of information about the diseases and parasites that occur in individuals and populations over time The Wildlife Health Program is interested in reports of these occurrences. Videos, written or oral descriptions or even photographs can be valuable sources of information. If you would like to report an occurrence of wildlife disease, please use the Disease Surveillance Form found in the on-line Manual of Common Diseases and Parasites of Wildlife in Northern British Columbia to help collect the appropriate information and/or samples, and submit a copy of the completed form (and samples) to your nearest Ministry office, or contact the Ecosystems Branch's Wildlife Veterinarian. Thank you for your interest.

The lumps you found are probably cysts that contain the larval stage of a tapeworm. The adult worm is found in the intestine of a carnivore such as a wolf. This is an important parasite to understand so for more information please look at our resource "Diseases you can get from Wildlife". It is available in two PDF editions:2006 for B.C. only (PDF 5.26MB) or 2010 edition for B.C., Alberta, and Saskatchewan (PDF 5.57MB), or as a searchable website (2006 edition, B.C. only). Look it up in a number of ways; by moose, by moose measles - a common name for the tapeworm infection or just browse. The short answer is that you can cook and eat the moose meat since you cannot be infected by this moose worm, but, you should not feed the uncooked organs to your dogs as they can!

West Nile Virus has been identified in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as well as eastern Canada. In 2006, infections were recognized in California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho (USA). British Columbia is the only southern Canadian jurisdiction to remain uninfected. For an update on the disease and answers to some common concerns, as well as how to be involved in BC, see the West Nile Virus page on the website for the BC Centre for Disease Control.

There are no reported cases of West Nile virus being contracted through the handling or consumption of wild birds, however more research about the disease is required. Available information indicates that mosquitoes are the primary cause of the spread of West Nile virus.

For more information, see:
BC Parks West Nile Virus Questions & Answers
BC Centre for Disease Control
Ducks Unlimited
U.S. National Wildlife Health Centre

Strains of Avian Influenza virus have been found in as many as 90 species of wild birds around the world.

For more information, see:
Avian influenza and wild birds (PDF 98KB)
Canadian national AI survey information - Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre
British Columbia poultry health AI information
U.S. National Wildlife Health Centre

At this time, Chronic Wasting Disease has not been found in British Columbia. It has now been found in a small area of eastern Alberta adjacent to the Saskatchewan border. CWD infections in game-farmed elk and wild deer in Canada appear to be linked directly or indirectly to contact with infected elk on game farms. British Columbia has never permitted the farming of native species of deer or elk, and B.C. does not permit the import of any native cervid species into the province. In addition, there are significant geographical and spatial barriers to animal movement between areas where deer or elk are infected with this disease and our borders.

If you are hunting in other jurisdictions, especially in Saskatchewan, Alberta or U.S. states where the disease is more common, the following is important advice to follow:

Although there is no evidence to suggest that CWD can infect humans, experts recommend that all products from animals known to be infected with CWD should not be used for human food. As a minimum, hunters in areas where CWD has been identified should avoid eating the brain, spinal cord, eyes, tonsils, spleen or lymph nodes of deer and elk.

For more information, see CWD in the 2010 edition for B.C., Alberta, and Saskatchewan (PDF 5.57MB).

CWD has now been proven to be transmitted through the environment after contamination by infected animal carcasses. Therefore, it is also recommended to leave the carcass parts behind in the jurisdiction that you hunted it; transport only the following parts of animals hunted in areas where CWD has been diagnosed to minimize any risk of spreading CWD:

1. Meat that is cut and wrapped (either commercially or privately);
2. Quarters or other portions of meat with no part of the spinal column or head attached;
3. Meat that has been boned out;
4. Hides with no skull attached;
5. Upper canine teeth, also known as "bugler," "whistlers," or ivories;"
6. Finished taxidermied heads.
7. Skull plates with the antlers attached if the skull has been scraped to eliminate any tissue. The skull plate and cleaning utensils should be cleaned with bleach.

It is recommended that you avoid moving the brain, intact skull, or spinal cord from the area of harvest.

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a fatal disease of the central nervous system that affects mule deer, white-tailed deer, moose and elk. CWD belongs to a group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). TSEs tend to be species-specific and not naturally transmitted between species.

• scrapie, identified in domestic sheep and goats for more than 200 years;
• bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle (BSE or "mad cow disease");
• Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, which occurs naturally in one of every million humans; and
• new variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease in humans, which has been linked to the large-scale outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle herds in Great Britain.

Signs of the disease include gradual weight loss and changes in behaviour. In early stages of the disease, the animal may look normal, but in later stages affected animals may show weight loss, drooling and difficulty swallowing, increased drinking and urination, poor coordination or stumbling, trembling or depression. Signs may be present for days, weeks or months before death. Difficulty swallowing can lead to pneumonia and rapid death if feed is breathed into the lungs or aspirated. After infection with the CWD agent occurs, symptoms may not appear for years. In captivity, infected animals are usually 2 to 7 years old before symptoms are noticed, but there have been younger cases.

Infection appears to be fatal in all cases. However, because the clinical signs are quite nonspecific, CWD is not diagnosed by the symptoms or by testing a live animal. Laboratory and microscopic examination of a small area of the base of the brain as well as the tonsils and lymph nodes associated with the head of deer are the only methods to confirm the diagnosis of CWD. Research is continuing on developing simpler tests, especially for live animals.

The disease in mule deer was first identified in the 1960s and monitoring programs later identified the disease in deer and elk in northeastern Colorado and adjoining parts of Wyoming and Nebraska. At present, CWD is recognized in wild free-ranging deer and some elk in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Illinois and Utah.

CWD is or was present in game-farmed elk in a number of states ( Montana, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Kansas, South Dakota, Colorado, Wisconsin and Nebraska), in Saskatchewan and, recently, in a single elk and a single white-tailed deer on game farms in Alberta. A Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) disease control program was initiated in 2000 to eradicate the disease on infected elk farms in Saskatchewan. Over 7500 animals were destroyed, with approximately 3% positive for CWD. The CFIA CWD program has now expanded to Alberta elk and deer farms.

Since the fall of 2000, a number of mule deer and white-tailed deer harvested in Saskatchewan were confirmed to be CWD positive. Wildlife agencies in Saskatchewan and Alberta joined the CFIA and other disease expects in an expanded control program that includes wild deerherd reductions and intensive sample collections to confirm the number and distribution of infected wild deer. To date, 17 free ranging deer have been diagnosed with CWD in Alberta and 102 in Saskatchewan.

An abnormal protein known as a prion is believed to cause Chronic Wasting Disease, but the exact method(s) of transmission is not understood. Experimental and circumstantial evidence suggests infected deer and elk transmit the disease through animal contact and/or contamination of feed or water sources and the environment with saliva, urine and/or feces.

All CWD infections in game-farmed elk and wild deer in Canada appear to be linked directly or indirectly to contact with infected cervids from affected areas in the USA. British Columbia has never permitted the farming of native species of deer or elk, and BC does not permit the import of any native cervid species into the province. In addition, there are significant geographical and spatial barriers to animal movement between areas where deer or elk are infected with this disease and our borders.

At this time, Chronic Wasting Disease is not known to occur in British Columbia and eastern Alberta is the closest location for infected wild cervids in neighbouring jurisdictions.

British Columbia initiated a CWD surveillance program of deer and elk during 2001. We do not expect to find the disease and have not to date. This may be because of the reasons above; however, the surveillance program is necessary due to the concerns. Detection of CWD or confirmation that it is not present requires hard work and significant funding. Our program primarily focuses on random surveys of road kills and some hunter-killed deer and elk. Sick animals showings signs of CWD are preferentially tested as they are considered to be the most effective indicator of the disease's presence. Regional MOE offices in Cranbrook, Fort St. John and other regions are collecting road mortalities and hunters and game cutters are assisting with harvested animal samples to provide brain samples.

Outdoor enthusiasts are encouraged to report the location of live or dead deer or elk with CWD-like signs to their local Wildlife office or the Wildlife Veterinarian. An animal of interest is a deer or elk of 18 months or older that is emaciated and shows some of the following signs: abnormal behaviour, drooling, increased drinking and urination, stumbling, trembling and depression.

For More Information:

The following web sites provide further information regarding CWD:

Chronic Wasting Disease in British Columbia
http://www.cwd-info.org/
Canadian Food Inspection Agency - Animal Health
http://www.scwds.org, hit 'newsletters', the April 2002 issue, vol. 18, no. 1
http://www3.gov.ab.ca/srd/fw/diseases/
http://wildlife.state.co.us/CWD/index.asp
National Wildlife Health Center

If you have further question or wish additional information, please contact your local Wildlife office or the Wildlife Veterinarian in Victoria at 250-953-4285.

British Columbia has no stand-alone endangered species act. The provincial Wildlife Act protects virtually all vertebrate animals from direct harm, except as allowed by regulation (e.g., hunting or trapping). Legal designation as Endangered or Threatened under the Act increases the penalties for harming a species, and also enables the protection of habitat in a Critical Wildlife Management Area. At present, four species are legally designated: the Vancouver Island Marmot (Marmota vancouverensis), American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchus), and Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) as Endangered, and the Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) as Threatened. When the Wildlife Amendment Act is brought into force, invertebrates and plants will also be eligible for listing, and residences of listed species may be protected.

Species on the Red and Blue Lists affected by forest and range practices are also eligible for listing as a Category of Species at Risk in the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) and the Private Managed Forest Land Act. Once listed, management tools enabled under FRPA, such as wildlife habitat areas and general wildlife measures, can be used to address the species’ habitat requirements. Species included in the Category of Species at Risk, along with regionally important wildlife, are known as “Identified Wildlife”, and are managed under the Identified Wildlife Management Strategy (IWMS). The IWMS provides direction, policy, procedures and guidelines for managing Identified Wildlife.

Status Assessment and Legal Listing of Species at Risk

A species at risk is a species that is extirpated, endangered, threatened or of special concern (Table 1). The status of species at risk in Canada is assessed at both provincial and national levels, and these processes inform one another.

Table 1: Species at Risk Definitions used by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada

Extinct (X) – No longer in existence

Extirpated (XT) – No longer existing in the wild in a jurisdiction (e.g. country, province, state), but existing elsewhere.

Endangered (E) – Facing imminent extirpation or extinction.

Threatened (T) – Likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed.

Special Concern (SC) – Particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events but not yet endangered or threatened.

In British Columbia, specialists with the Conservation Data Centre, in consultation with other experts, assign species conservation status ranks according to a set of criteria developed by the international organization NatureServe. On the basis of these ranks, species are categorized into a Red List (candidates for extirpated, endangered or threatened status) and a Blue List (species not immediately threatened, but of concern).

Conservation Data Centres across Canada also contribute information on the general status of Canadian flora and fauna. This information is summarized by the National General Status Working Group, and is published once every five years for the Canadian Endangered Species Conservation Council in Wild Species in Canada reports.

At the national level, assessments of the status of species at risk are conducted by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). Information from the National General Status Working Group assists COSEWIC in determining which species should be considered for assessment. COSEWIC assessments are based on status reports, which summarize the best-available information on the biology of a species, including information on habitat, population size, distribution and trends.

COSEWIC status assessments form the basis of advice to the federal cabinet on species that will be considered for legal listing under the Species at Risk Act.

Provincially, vertebrate species on the provincial Red List, or assessed by COSEWIC as extirpated, endangered, threatened or special concern, are among the candidates for legal listing under the Wildlife Act. When the Wildlife Amendment Act is brought into force, invertebrates and plants will be eligible for listing, and residences may be prescribed for listed species. Species on the Red and Blue Lists affected by forest and range practices are also eligible for listing as a Category of Species at Risk in the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) and the Private Managed Forest Land Act. Once listed, management tools enabled under FRPA, such as wildlife habitat areas and general wildlife measures, can be used to address the species’ habitat requirements. Species included in the Category of Species at Risk, along with regionally important wildlife, are known as “Identified Wildlife”, and are managed under the Identified Wildlife Management Strategy (IWMS). The IWMS provides direction, policy, procedures and guidelines for managing Identified Wildlife.

An overview of the national and provincial status assessments and listing processes is provided in Figure 1.

1Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada
2XT = Extirpated; E = Endangered; T = Threatened; SC = Special Concern

See our Endangered Species and Ecosystems in British Columbia website for the most up-to date numbers and customized lists.

• 232 red- and blue-listed (endangered/ threatened or vulnerable) terrestrial vertebrates
• 45 red- and blue-listed fish
• 618 red- and blue-listed vascular plants
• 329 red- and blue-listed plant communities
• 149 red- and blue-listed invertebrates
• more than 589 red- and blue-listed non-vascular plants

Answers on website http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/frpa/iwms/strategy_docs/faq.htm

An excellent source is the new Endangered Species and Ecosystems in British Columbia website, and additional information can be found through the Biodiversity & Wildlife publications page, the State of Environment website, or search through the on-line Biodiversity Publications catalogue. See also "Other Links" this website.

Visit the Grizzly Bear Conservation Strategy webpage

See the website White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in British Columbia