Woodland caribou, cousins of Santa's reindeer and one of the most emblematic species of Canada's boreal wilderness, are at particular risk of extinction in Alberta, where their numbers have dropped by almost 60% since the 1960s.

CPAWS along with other conservation groups have just filed a legal petition asking the federal government to declare an emergency order under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) to protect Alberta's remaining woodland caribou and their habitat.

Right now the Little Smoky caribou herd in west-central Alberta is highly threatened. The Alberta government is refusing to defer logging and other industrial development in the area where the herd lives even though it is officially listed as "at immediate risk of extirpation."

You can help by writing to federal Environment Minister Stephane Dion asking him to use the emergency provisions under the Species at Risk Act to protect Alberta's remaining caribou, including the Little Smoky herd.