A new report from World Wildlife Fund Canada has revealed how animal populations across the country are plummeting. It shows the most severe average decline in the size of monitored wildlife populations in Canada since the conservation organisation began reporting two decades ago.
The picture of wildlife loss presented in the Living Planet Report Canada (LPRC) 2025: Wildlife at Home (LPRC) is stark.
More than half (52%) of the species studied are in decline, and the numbers of every major group – birds, fish, mammals, reptiles and amphibians – are heading in the wrong direction.
WWF-Canada says the report lands at a critical time, as rapid development is being prioritised and regulations that protect wildlife are loosened.
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It blames human activity for disrupting natural relationships, damaging species’ habitats and setting off ripple effects that threaten their survival.
However, it also send a message of hope, saying that '[nature] is not beyond saving if we act now to reinforce the balance that sustains us all'.
Grassland species see worse declines
The report uses over 5,000 records of 910 species dating from 1970 to 2022.
- Steepest declines were seen in grassland habitats, where species were 62% down on average.
- In forests, mammal populations declined by 42%.
- Populations of species found on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species declined by 43% on average.
While some species, such as sea otters and raptors, are doing better than the national average, others, including bats, caribou and snowy owls, are doing far worse.
“The findings of the Living Planet Report Canada are nature’s warning light, and it’s telling us wildlife and their habitats are threatened," said Megan Leslie, president and CEO of WWF-Canada. "This warning also gives us an opportunity to turn things around before it’s too late. It is imperative that we act now to protect and restore the nature that not only sustains wildlife, but also the heart of our economies.”
The organisation says that the LPRC comes at a pivotal time: five years from the deadline for Canada to reach the 2030 targets set in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and Canada’s 2030 Nature Strategy. Coined the Canadian Species Index, the C-LPI is used as a domestic indicator to measure Canada’s progress towards halting and reversing biodiversity loss.
Main image: Atlantic-Gaspésie woodland caribou, Getty Images
