OTTAWA, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The results are in for the 2024 City Nature Challenge, a massive international effort to track and showcase global biodiversity. In collaboration with the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF), 40 Canadian cities competed to observe wildlife with Metro Vancouver Regional District, Montreal, Cape Breton Regional Municipality and Kincardine leading the way in different categories.
“It was a super close race between Vancouver and Montreal as they traded top spot for most observations throughout the four days,” said James Pagé, species at risk and biodiversity specialist for CWF. “Per capita, the results look drastically different with two smaller towns on top: Cape Breton on the east coast led in observations, surpassing many larger cities like Toronto, Victoria, and Ottawa outright, not just per capita. Kincardine, Ont. had most participants per capita of about 11,000 residents.”
In total, there were more than 120,000 wildlife observations in Canada during the April 26 to 29 event and more than two million around the world.
“These are very significant numbers which included more than 1,600 observations of species at risk in Canada,” Pagé explained. “Some key finds include six of Canada’s eight species of at-risk turtles and several rare whales including a dozen Killer Whale observations around Vancouver Island. This data helps scientists track and conserve our biodiversity, making wildlife the biggest winners.”
Highlights include:
- Metro Vancouver had 14,066 observations of 1,563 species
- Montreal had 14,046 observations of 1,319 species and the most participants overall
- Cape Breton Regional Municipality had the most observations per capita at 12,434
- The municipality of Kincardine had the most participants per capita
- The Mallard Duck was the most observed species followed by Canada Goose and Red-winged Blackbird
- The top species at risk recorded were the Banded Killifish, Painted Turtle, Horned Grebe, Northern Leopard Frog and Yellow Lampmussel. These species are all at risk in some parts of their range.
Participation has been on the rise, with an increase of 25 per cent more people taking part both nationally and internationally as compared to 2023, Pagé said. More noticeable is the massive 65 per cent increase this year in number of observations contributed in Canada, more than doubling the international increase of 30 per cent.
Just like wildlife, people are greatly affected by weather patterns, with 2023 being a colder wet weekend in most of Canada, which might explain this year’s jump.
“These observations are critical to assessing global impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss, at a key time of year when species are emerging or returning in the spring,” said Pagé. “CWF thanks all Canadians for their contributions to the iNaturalist.ca database, which CWF leads here in Canada.”
The City Nature Challenge was established by the California Academy of Sciences and Natural Museum of Los Angeles in 2016. The public can also contribute using iNaturalist Canada all year by joining CWF’s Observation Nation project.
To learn more about the 2024 challenge and sign up for the 2025 competition, visit CityNatureChallenge.ca.
About the Canadian Wildlife Federation:
The Canadian Wildlife Federation is a national, not-for-profit charitable organization dedicated to conserving Canada’s wildlife and habitats for the use and enjoyment of all. By spreading knowledge of human impacts on wildlife and the environment, carrying out actions to conserve and restore species and habitats, developing and delivering conservation education programs, advocating for changes to government policy and programs, and co-operating with like-minded partners, CWF encourages a future in which Canadians can live in harmony with nature. For more information, visit CanadianWildlifeFederation.ca.
About the City Nature Challenge:
Started in 2016 for the first-ever Citizen Science Day, the teams at Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and California Academy of Sciences dreamed up the City Nature Challenge as a fun way to capitalize on their home cities’ friendly rivalry. In 2017 the City Nature Challenge went national and in 2018 it became an international event.
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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c82f3383-245c-49ae-a5f7-4fbec289def7