KINGSTON, Ontario, July 27 (UPI) -- Canadian biologists said Tuesday they want a well-known arctic bird added to Canada's list of species at risk.
Biologists at Queen's University have asked the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada to add two populations of rock ptarmigan from opposite ends of North America to the list because they are in danger of disappearing permanently if conservation and management practices are not changed.
Although not endangered in other arctic regions, the rock ptarmigan populations identified in the study are definitely at risk, the team said. In the Aleutian Islands this is due to foxes that were introduced in the 18th century for fur farming, while in Newfoundland the birds are hunted by people as small game.
The biologists used DNA analysis to show that both populations -- one in Newfoundland's highland ranges and the other in Alaska's Aleutian Island chain -- are genetically distinct from all other rock ptarmigans and should be considered separate species.
At present there are 19 endangered and seven threatened bird species in Canada.
