Saskatchewan strives to maintain a healthy environment for the thousands of native wild species that live in the province. Despite many programs focused on maintaining and enhancing wildlife populations, some species have been threatened with extinction and require special attention to help ensure their survival.

The mission of the Saskatchewan species at risk program is to protect species from extirpation or extinction, and to prevent additional species and ecosystems from becoming threatened with extinction. The focus of this program is directed at the needs of provincially threatened and endangered species, and is integrated with Canada's species at risk program.

Within the Ministry of Environment, the Fish and Wildlife Branch is legislated to address species at risk in Saskatchewan. This is done under the direction of The Wildlife Act, 1998 which includes provisions to designate and protect species at risk in Saskatchewan. There are currently 15 at-risk plants and animals identified in the Act.

Table 1: Wild Species at Risk listed under The Wildlife Act, 1998

Extirpated Species
Black-footed Ferret	Mustela nigripes
Grizzly Bear	Ursus arctos horribilius
Greater Prairie Chicken	Tympanuchus cupido
Eskimo Curlew	Numenius borealis
Small White Lady's-slipper	Cypripedium candidum
Endangered Species
Burrowing Owl	Athene cunicularia
Piping Plover	Charadrius melodus
Sage Grouse	Centrocercus urophasianus
Whooping Crane	Grus americana
Swift Fox	Vulpes velox
Sand Verbena	Abronia micrantha
Western Spiderwort	Tradescantia occidentalis
Tiny Cryptanthe	Cryptantha minima
Hairy Prairie-clover	Dalea villosa
Threatened Species
Slender Mouse-ear-cress	Halimolobos virgata

Wildlife in Saskatchewan, including all species at risk, are protected from being disturbed, collected, harvested, captured, killed, sold or exported without a permit. In addition, the den, house, nest, dam, or usual place of habitation of wildlife and wild species at risk is also protected from disturbance and destruction. Habitat protection has additional benefits for the province's flora and fauna, and helps to maintain a healthy environment for all of Saskatchewan's wildlife.

Under The Wildlife Act, 1998 any native wild species can be designated as extirpated, endangered, threatened, or vulnerable if it is believed to be at risk. These categories are similar to those used by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada to assess a species' risk of extirpation or extinction.

Table 2: At-risk categories and definitions of Saskatchewan's Wild Species at Risk

Category	Definition
Extirpated	no longer exists in the wild in Saskatchewan, but exists in the wild outside of Saskatchewan
Endangered	threatened with imminent extirpation or extinction
Threatened	likely to become endangered if the factors leading to its endangerment are not reversed
Vulnerable	of special concern because of low or declining numbers due to human activities or natural events but that is not endangered or threatened

The conservation status rank applied by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre (CDC) is used to select and prioritize candidate species for listing under The Wildlife Act, 1998. The CDC maintains a centralized database used to store scientific information on the status, location and ecology of Saskatchewan species and plant communities, with a focus on those deemed to be at risk. The database is housed in the Ministry of Environment's Fish and Wildlife Branch. In addition to determining conservation status ranks, this database is also used to assist in development and conservation planning, and to support species recovery, biological research and direct monitoring for species at risk.

If you have information that you'd like to report on any rare or wild species at risk in Saskatchewan, please fill out the online Rare Species Report Form, found at:
http://www.biodiversity.sk.ca/Docs/speciesreportform.pdf.