{"id":654017,"date":"2026-05-07T15:50:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T15:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/654017\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T15:50:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T15:50:28","slug":"muskrat-considered-species-at-risk-in-n-w-t-after-persistent-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/654017\/","title":{"rendered":"Muskrat considered &#8216;species at risk\u2019 in N.W.T. after \u2018persistent drought\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/a\/assets\/texttospeech.svg\" alt=\"Text to Speech Icon\" width=\"44\" height=\"44\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>Estimated 2 minutes<\/p>\n<p>The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n<p>The Northwest Territories Species at Risk Committee (SARC) is declaring muskrats as a species of \u201cspecial concern\u201d for the first time, saying \u201cpersistent drought conditions\u201d are endangering the animals&#8217; ecosystems across the territory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMuskrat population trends provide insight into the health of freshwater habitats,\u201d a Wednesday release from SARC reads. Those habitats, the release notes, have been increasingly threatened by warming due to climate change and \u201cartificial flow regulation\u201d \u2014 like dams and flood mitigation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough common muskrat remains widely distributed throughout the N.W.T., knowledge holders have observed declines in abundance, in particular in the Mackenzie Delta, and have expressed concerns about the species and the threats it may be facing,\u201d the release reads.<\/p>\n<p>In response, the committee is recommending \u201crespectful and responsible harvest\u201d and long-range monitoring to protect the remaining population.<\/p>\n<p>It also recommends promoting research and insights from Indigenous knowledge holders to raise awareness about the decline in muskrat populations.<\/p>\n<p>The release encourages members of the public to share sightings on iNaturalist.ca or by emailing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/north\/mailto:wildlifeobs@gov.nt.ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wildlifeobs@gov.nt.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Wood bison remain &#8216;threatened&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The release also updated the status of wood bison in the territory, which are still considered \u201cthreatened\u201d ten years on from their first assessment in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>The release notes the herd is small, at around 2,760 bison outside Wood Buffalo National Park, and numbers have declined over the last 15 years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCommunities in the South Slave region and northern Alberta have concerns about population declines and disease,\u201d the release reads.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Two bison walking on Highway 3 in the NWT\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778169028_226_default.jpg\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.7802197802197801\" data-cy=\"image-img\"\/>A file photo of wood bison in the N.W.T. The species remains &#8216;threatened&#8217; according to the N.W.T. SARC, ten years on from its initial assessment. (Katherine Barton\/CBC)<\/p>\n<p>The committee says the relevant authorities should \u201cimprove coordination and sharing of information on wood bison population surveys and outcomes,\u201d and adopt new road safety measures to reduce collisions with the animals.<\/p>\n<p>The N.W.T. SARC offers regular assessments of certain species deemed to be at risk of disappearing from the territory, and issues reports and recommendations on how to ensure the species\u2019 survival.<\/p>\n<p>The committee is made up of Indigenous and non-Indigenous scientists, wildlife specialists and knowledge keepers who are jointly appointed by the federal and territorial governments and representatives of the territory  \u2019s four wildlife co-management boards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 2 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-654017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}