JULY 2019
In recent years, salamander populations have come under threat, due to the loss, degradation and fragmentation of habitat. The Prairie/Boreal populations of Western Tiger Salamander were assessed and classified of special concern by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) in 2012 and later listed under Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act in 2018 with the same status.
As a provision to aid in the protection of this species, recent road improvement operations along Provincial Trunk Highway (PTH) 21 in Western Manitoba required that a salamander salvage be conducted to capture and safely relocate any salamanders that may be present within the work area. AAE Tech Services Inc. was contracted by Russell Redi-Mix Concrete to conduct this salvage in parallel with their work along the Six Mile Slough section of PTH 21 in late July and August of 2019.
A total of 1067 salamanders were captured during the salvage. And were safely relocated to a suitable release point outside and away from the project site, within the Six Mile Slough wetland complex.
As part of this project, AAE provided the following:
• Non-lethal capture of adult and juvenile salamanders using funnel traps, seine netting, and dip netting with industrial lights;
• Life cycle stage classification, and length measurement for each salamander captured;
• Tissue sampling for genetic analysis to be completed by Manitoba Sustainable Development;
• Transport and release of salamanders 500m away from the construction footprint, within Six Mile Slough;
• Water Quality Monitoring at regular intervals in salvage areas;
• Habitat description of salvage areas, and laboratory identification of macrophyte species to better describe the habitats western tiger salamanders inhabit;
