Friday, April 08, 2016

Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative tackles predation

Imagine a grizzly bear wandering south from the Yukon into the Alberta Rockies and encountering a mate that made a similarly remarkable journey north from 
Yellowstone National Park in 
Wyoming. This type of encounter is part of the vision of an ambitious wildlife conservation effort in Western Canada and the United States. Called the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y), the purpose is to create a wildlife-friendly corridor through a 3,200 kilometre stretch of land spanning from the Yukon to Yellowstone National Park. It is a collaborative effort to create habitats that allow large wild animals such as grizzly bears and wolves to thrive and move more freely through areas that were in their historical range before European settlement. Increasing human activity, development in natural areas and habitat fragmentation are contributing to the decline in wild mammals. It also limits their ability to adapt to climate change, which is a serious and increasing threat. Animals will have to move to habitats with more favourable conditions or perish if climate change drastically changes current nature reserves. There is little hope that wild animals could successfully reestablish themselves elsewhere if safe connections between natural areas are lacking. This large-scale North American conservation project is important for several reasons...more

Please take the time to read this.  It will explain the battles to come.

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