Canadian animals - many different species

Canada is home to about 80,000 species including the iconic caribou, polar bear and narwhal. Keep in mind, many of them are facing numerous threats to their survival.

Interestingly, Canada supports the 2nd largest gray wolf population in the world, after Russia. Wolf habitat is diverse in this large country. Historically, wolves ranged in most areas of Canada. Currently, wolves in Canada occupy approximately 90 percent of their historic range.

Gray wolf attacks are rare because wolves are scared to be killed by human beings. Wolves today tend to live mostly far from people or have developed the tendency and ability to avoid them.

There have been some recent extinctions in Canada. There was exploitation of land and forest resources by humans and hunting and trapping for food and sport. Woodland caribou, present in several provinces, are threatened by human hunting, wolves, as well as habitat disturbance from forestry activities, roads, mining and exploration, pipelines and oil and gas production. The Newfoundland population of marten is threatened by habitat loss, accidental trapping and prey availability.