Racing pigeon from Spain has rare journey to Canada after wrong turn in Mediterranean
Peter, a Spanish racing pigeon found on Sable Island, N.S., in late March, is seen being handled by a Parks Canada employee in an undated handout photo. The messenger pigeon, who was found about 5,000 kilometres away from where it was supposed to go, is now recovering at a rescue centre, Hope for Wildlife. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Hope for Wildlife)
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Calgary Herald
2 hours ago
- Calgary Herald
Bow Valley wildlife still benefiting from 2002 Kananaskis G8 summit
Twenty-three years after world leaders gathered in Kananaskis, cougars, bears and deer are traversing the Bow Valley more safely thanks to a legacy of that G8 meeting. Article content To honour the G8's host community, the federal government devoted $5 million administered by Parks Canada to enhance wilderness conservation, with $2 million of that going to hands-on projects. Article content Article content Article content 'I searched around to try to find a contact and told them we'd be interested,' said Calgarian Patricia Letizia, who was then the executive director of Alberta Eco Trust. Article content Article content Helped by a private and anonymous $250,000 donation, the group and a host of partners set about constructing a wildlife bridge over the Rundle Canal above Canmore. Article content At that time, Canadian Pacific donated the bed of an old train car to use as the deck of the 14.8-metre-wide span, she said. Article content 'We did in fact build a bridge over the Rundle Canal and we had enough left over to afford an underpass at Dead Man's Flats,' said Letizia, who retired as Ecotrust CEO last December. Article content Both crossings — which were completed by the end of 2004 — were designed to ease wildlife transit from Banff National Park into the lower Bow Valley and Kananaskis. With lower animal mortality, both structures have proven their worth, said Letizia. Article content Article content 'It was at a point of the (Trans-Canada) Highway where there were a lot of wildlife collisions,' she said. 'Not all animals have the same kind of behaviour and the underpass would be used primarily by small animals, though some cougars and bears have been detected.' Article content Article content But that wasn't the end of the G8 legacy funds. Nearly $200,000 remained and were eventually disbursed between five conservation organizations. Article content Those receiving grants were the Biosphere Institute for the Bow Valley, the Karelian Bear Shepherding Institute of Canada, the Miistakis Institute for the Rockies, Bow Valley WildSmart and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative. Article content 'We really urged them to work collectively on large-impact issues, and it was a lot of fun collaborating,' said Letizia.
CBC
21 hours ago
- CBC
Tulı́t'a, N.W.T., to get new office and cultural centre to serve community and tourists
Parks Canada has announced new funding for an office and cultural centre in Tulı́t'a, N.W.T., to better support staff in connecting residents and visitors with the land. Parks Canada announced Friday that it will spend $16.5 million on the new space, which will also be the operations base for Naats'ihch'oh National Park Reserve. The building will include a cultural centre exhibition and will allow community members and visitors to gather. The community's cultural centre is currently in a small trailer and Douglas Yallee, the community's mayor, described the space as "cramped with employees." He said the new building will be an improvement. The new space will help create jobs for those in the community and boost tourism to the park, according to Parks Canada. Nááts'įhch'oh National Park Reserve's acting superintendent, Dameon Wall, said it was all designed in collaboration with the community, including a number of elders, during public consultation sessions with Parks Canada. "I'd like to stress just how connected this project is with the community," Wall said. "Just how strong those relationships are, and how strong that connection is between the Sahtu Dene and Métis people and Parks Canada." Some of the elders who were part of the consultation process have since died. For Yallee, that means that while the centre aims to preserve the cultural heritage of the Sahtu Region, it already is preserving those elders' history. "I'm excited to see it up and running because there is input from the community members into the design building. It's going to be good," he said. The park, which is located southwest of the Sahtu Settlement in the Northwest Territories, is home to a rich diversity of animals, including Dall sheep, grizzly bears, woodland caribou, and trumpeter swans. It also helps protect Mount Nááts'įhch'oh and the Tehjeh Deé — South Nahanni River — watershed. Yellowknife-based company Northern Industrial Construction won the contract to build the centre. The administrative office is expected to open in the fall of 2026, with the centre set to open to the public in 2027. While Yallee said the process to secure funding for the centre was lengthy, he is excited now that the project is beginning and is looking forward to the centre's completion. "It took a number of years," he said. "But it's here, finally."
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Evacuee recalls ‘surreal' escape as northern Ontario wildfire threatens First Nation
As a major wildfire threatens a First Nation in northwestern Ontario, one evacuee is recounting her 'surreal' experience escaping the blaze on a military aircraft. Destiny Rae says she and her family were among hundreds of people who left Sandy Lake First Nation as the 1,500-square kilometre, out-of-control wildfire burns through the area. National Defence says a CC-130 Hercules aircraft has been airlifting people out of the First Nation, and more than 700 people had been evacuated as of Monday afternoon. It's unclear how many residents are still in the community of more than 2,000 people. Rae says it was 'very surreal' when she boarded the military airplane on Sunday, as officials said the blaze was just six kilometres away from the First Nation with smoke causing poor visibility. Tens of thousands of people across Canada have fled from raging wildfires in recent days, prompting both Saskatchewan and Manitoba to declare provincial states of emergency. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2025.
