Quebec to add 27 species to list of those vulnerable and threatened

The Quebec government is updating its list of threatened or vulnerable species for the first time in more than a decade, with 27 species either added or deemed in greater danger.

Environment Minister Benoit Charette made the announcement today at the COP 15 Youth Summit, taking place on the sidelines of the UN Biodiversity Conference that opens Tuesday in Montreal.

Under provincial law, two statuses can be assigned to species — vulnerable if survival is considered precarious in the long term, and threatened for those that could disappear in short order.

Among the 16 species being upgraded to threatened are the western chorus frog, the little brown bat and the rusty-patched bumblebee.

Another 11 species are being labelled as vulnerable including the two-spotted ladybug, the fin whale, the water snake and the bobolink, a songbird.

The habitats of 28 species will also be added, including those of the western chorus frog, the St. Lawrence River beluga population, the harlequin duck and the peregrine falcon.

The government says in a statement the last time the list was updated was in 2009.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2022.