“WILDLIFE WEDNESDAY” SERIES

DENMAN ISLAND COMMUNITY HALL (BACK HALL) – 7:30 to 8:30pm

Dear Nature Enthusiasts thank you for your attendance of the previous Wildlife Wednesday presentations and your support of the Purple Martin Project (PMPP). We expect the Purple Martins to return to our colony at the Community Dock by the end of April.

Dr. McAdie had to cancel his talk originally scheduled for March 26th with short notice. I filled in and gave you a talk about the secrets of breeding Pekin Robins. Thank you for your understanding! We had planned to hear David Hancock’s story creating artificial nests for bald eagles for April but we are postponing his talk to the fall when we plan to reconvene the Wildlife Wednesday speaker series. We are rescheduling the presentation by Dr. Malcolm McAdie, DVM, MSc. Wildlife Veterinarian to April the 30 th at 7:30 pm at the Community Back Hall. Malcom has been involved in conserving many wild species including wolves, snakes, bald eagles and the critically endangered Vancouver Island marmot (Marmota vancouverensis). The title of his talk will be “Ecology and Conservation of the Vancouver Island Marmot”. Malcolm works with the Marmot Recovery Foundation overseeing the captive breeding, rescue and release of the marmots in their natural range on Vancouver Island. In addition, he provides veterinary services to the North Island Wildlife Recovery Association to rehabilitate animals for release back to the wild. The V.I. marmots are endemic to Canada. It lives nowhere else in the world except in the Vancouver Island Mountain range. Fewer than 30 remained in the wild twenty years ago when conservationists banded together to give the marmots a helping hand by breeding them in human care (ex situ). Malcom will tell us how many there are in the wild today and what it takes to sustain a viable population. This is a most fascinating story that unfolded and unfolds right across Baines Sound in our very neighborhood. The Marmot Recovery Foundation was founded in 1999 it provides on-the-ground research, public awareness and funding for the breeding and release program. A worthy organization to support. We hope you can come and celebrate with us another wonderful event of species conservation. 

Wildlife Wednesday is presented by the Purple Martin Preservation Project with funding support by Wildlife Preservation Canada. Entry is by donation.