Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 1
Assessment Summary
Assessment Summary – April 2008
Common name: Greater Sage-Grouse – British Columbia population
Scientific name: Centrocercus urophasianus phaios
Status: Extirpated
Reason for designation: This subspecies has not been seen in its former range in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia for about a century.
Occurrence: Formerly British Columbia
Status history: Has not been reported since the 1960s. Designated Extirpated in April 1997. Status re-examined and confirmed in May 2000 and April 2008. Last assessment based on an update status report.
Assessment Summary – April 2008
Common name: Greater Sage-Grouse – Prairie population
Scientific name: Centrocercus urophasianus urophasianus
Status: Endangered
Reason for designation: This large grouse is restricted to sagebrush grasslands in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan and has suffered significant population declines (42% over the last 10 years, 88% since 1988). The number of leks (male display sites) has decreased by 50% in the last 10 years and there are now less than a thousand breeding birds in the population. Causes for the decline are largely due to the loss, fragmentation and degradation of its native grassland habitats through oil and gas exploration, overgrazing and conversion to crops.
Occurrence: Alberta, Saskatchewan
Status history: Given conditional designation of Threatened in April 1997. Status re-examined and designated Endangered in April 1998 based on a revised status report. Status re-examined and confirmed in May 2000 and April 2008. Last assessment based on an update status report.