Today we’re launching ten brand new adoptable animals! When you adopt an animal through Earth Rangers, you’re supporting real-life wildlife conservation. Here’s how it works: 

1. You purchase the wildlife adoption kit of your choice–we’ve got ten to choose from! 
2. We send you an adorable plush animal, plus a wildlife adoption certificate, a trading card, and a poster packed with facts about your new furry friend.
3. The proceeds from your adoption kit support a scientist or conservationist who is doing important work to save animals.

Ready to meet this year’s adoptable animals – and the amazing scientists you’ll be supporting?

Beavers & Bumblebees

My name is Sarah Bayliff! I work for the Nature Conservancy of Canada as the BC Interior Program Manager, and I am currently in the Bunchgrass Hills Conservation Area, a vast landscape of native grasslands, forests, and wetlands south of Kamloops in British Columbia. I’m helping to protect this vital wildlife corridor, as well as the creatures that live there — including bumblebees and beavers!

Want to help out? You can sponsor my work by visiting the Adoptions section in the Earth Rangers App or check out the Earth Rangers Shop to get your Beaver and Bumblebee Adoption Kits!

Cougars

Hey there, Earth Rangers! My name is Ashley Sahulka, and I’m a Stewardship Coordinator with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). I’m working with a team of conservationists in the Cypress Uplands, a region in the southern part of Saskatchewan that includes a range of habitats—from grasslands to forests—in Cypress Hills. This area is home to more than 1,000 plant and animal species, and has one of the highest densities of cougars anywhere in Canada!

You can support our work by visiting the Adoptions section in the Earth Rangers App or checking out the Earth Rangers Shop to get your Cougar Adoption Kit. 

Snowy Owls, Red Foxes & Flying Squirrels

Hello, Earth Rangers! I’m Megan Quinn, and I’m a researcher with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. I’m working with a team in the Ottawa Valley in Ontario, which is home to all different kinds of wildlife — including the snowy owl, the flying squirrel, and the red fox!

You can help us! Check out the Adoptions section in the Earth Rangers App or visit the Earth Rangers Shop to get your snowy owl, flying squirrel, and red fox Adoption Kits.

Caribou

Hello there! I’m Claudia Haas, a biologist with Wilfrid Laurier University. I work in the Northwest Territories, home to some of the last intact boreal forest in the world! These forests are important habitat for animals like caribou, along with many at-risk species. 

Are you ready to join my team? Head to the Adoptions section in the Earth Rangers App or visit the Earth Rangers Shop — get your Caribou Adoption Kit and start making a difference today!

Grey Wolves

Hi, I’m Karl-Antoine Hogue and I’m a researcher with the University of Guelph. I’m working with The Land Guardians from the Van Tat Gwich’in community in Old Crow, Yukon. The boreal forest there is home to all kinds of animals, including grey wolves! My work with the Van Tat Gwich’in community will help us protect these animals and their homes. 

But we could use your help! Check out the Adoptions section in the Earth Rangers App or visit the Earth Rangers Shop to get your Grey Wolf Adoption Kit.

Lynxes

Greetings, Earth Rangers! I’m Sandra Yaacoub, a researcher from Queen’s University. I’m working with a team in southwest Yukon. Here in the taiga (also known as the snow forest or boreal forest), we see a lot of wildlife, including lynxes!

Unfortunately, the lynxes’ habitat has been affected by spruce bark beetles, which have killed a lot of trees. You can help us restore the forests that lynxes call home! Visit the Adoptions section in the Earth Rangers App or check out the Earth Rangers Shop to get your Lynx Adoption Kit!

Sea Turtles

Hi Earth Rangers! My name is Gerardo, and I’m 9 years old. I live in Nicaragua and am part of a really cool program called the Sea Turtle Protection Project.

Me and lots of other kids in my community are learning about and helping to save an amazing creature who really makes a splash – the sea turtle!

While you may not be able to come to Nicaragua, you can still join our team! Visit the Adoptions section in the Earth Rangers App or check out the Earth Rangers Shop to get your Sea Turtle Adoption Kit and help save the sea turtles!

The post Which New Animal Will You Adopt? first appeared on Earth Rangers.

Hi, I’m Peter Soroye! I work at the Wildlife Conservation Society of Canada, where I make sure that swift foxes have the habitat they need to thrive. This past year, Earth Rangers across Canada adopted almost 300 swift foxes!

It’s been so fun to see kids like you adopting the swift fox plushies. I love seeing your excitement and interest! Knowing that so many people want to save the swift fox and support our work has been very motivating. Ultimately, the only way to protect wildlife is for as many people as possible to care about it. We’re all grateful for your help and support. From the Key Biodiversity Areas team at WCS Canada, thank you! Here’s what your adoptions made possible this year.

The Key to Biodiversity

My work this year focused on identifying Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) for swift foxes and other animals and plants across Saskatchewan and the rest of Canada. We’re identifying different areas, like Grasslands National Park in southern Saskatchewan, or Dundurn Sandhills near Saskatoon, as KBAs. That way, people know exactly which areas are most important for protecting wildlife.

Most of the work to identify KBAs happens on a computer, which is an important tool for most biology and conservation work nowadays! On the computer, I can read scientific reports, chat with experts, and create maps of swift fox habitat.

Feeling the Burn

Some members of our team were able to get out into the field this year as well. We took an exciting trip to the Beaver Creek Conservation Area in the Dundurn Sandhills and the CFB Dundurn KBA. While we were there, we watched researchers do a controlled burn of some of the site. A controlled burn is when conservationists light a small fire on purpose, with lots of safety measures in place, to burn plant material that can contribute to wildfires.

Controlled burns may look scary and destructive. But many prairie animals and plants rely on lands where small fires break out naturally. When our experts carry out a burn, they’re doing the same work that nature does — and they’re preventing bigger, out-of-control wildfires from happening. This is important work that keeps animal habitats safe and comfortable.

Foxes and Friends

During the summer, I visited the Grasslands National Park KBA. Grasslands is famous: It’s one of the sites where the swift fox has been reintroduced! During my trip, all the swift foxes stayed hidden. But I saw many other cool prairie species, like burrowing owls, prairie rattlesnakes, and bison.

How Can You Help?

There are many things you can do if you’re interested in a career in conservation. For one, keep learning! Following Earth Rangers, KBA Canada, and WCS Canada can help you learning about the challenges that wildlife is facing. Learning will help you see and even create potential solutions.

Another thing you can do to support conservation in your day-to-day life is use apps like iNaturalist or Seek to take pictures of plants and animals that you see. Try out these apps on hikes, camping trips, or even in your own backyard! You’ll learn more about the plants and animals around you, and the information you collect helps scientists who are working in conservation. You might just discover something that you’re passionate about and could pursue a career in!

Finally, keep caring! Make sure that your friends and family know how important conservation is to you. That way, the people in charge of our cities and countries will know how important it is to support conservation too.

The post Did You Adopt a Swift Fox This Year? Here’s What We Accomplished Together! first appeared on Earth Rangers.

Did you adopt a moose, river otter, or Eastern wolf this past year? You’re not alone! Kids across Canada adopted a whopping 674 of these animals in 2023 and 2024 — that’s almost 700!

I’m Megan Quinn, a conservation biologist at the Nature Conservancy of Canada. I’m so grateful to everyone who has adopted a Northern river otter, a moose, or an Eastern wolf. Proceeds from these adoptions help me do really important work in Eastern Ontario to protect these species and their habitats. By following along with my journey in the field, you are helping to highlight how critical this work is.

You have also given me a lot of hope! When I was growing up, I didn’t have access to any nature, so I didn’t know how important conservation was. I have always loved animals, and wanted to help them, but I didn’t know how. By being an Earth Ranger, you are already way ahead of where I was, so I can’t wait to see where you’ll go!

I’ve appreciated all the great questions you’ve asked, and the curiosity you’ve shown. Even if I didn’t get to answer your question in a video, I read every single one, and they’ve inspired me to keep going in my work.

My job isn’t always easy! It can be physically exhausting, hot, uncomfortable, and full of biting insects, but knowing that you all care about these species as much as I do inspires me to keep going! Thank you for letting me share my work with the Nature Conservancy of Canada and my world with you.

I’m so excited to tell you about everything my team accomplished this past year — all thanks to you!

Springtime in the Forest

Spring is one of my favourite times to be a conservation biologist. The early spring flowers are starting to appear, and the forest floor is covered in white, purple, and yellow as the Bloodroot, Spring Beauties, and Trout Lily flowers appear. The animals also arrive too, whether they’re coming out of hibernation or returning from their migration routes. Suddenly, the forests and wetlands of Eastern Ontario start to feel alive.

Spring is also when our new conservation technicians start their work. If you want a job where you get to protect the earth every day, you might want to work with the Nature Conservancy of Canada as a conservation technician one day! It’s a great way to learn about the animals and plants that live in these unique ecosystems.

Fun fact: being a conservation technician was my first environmental job when I graduated from college. I love teaching our technicians how to do surveys, identify species, and navigate around the forests and wetlands For many technicians, this is their first environmental job, so they are eager to get started.

Our conservation technician Rishona filmed these Northern river otters playing — right outside of our office! It’s always such a joy to see them having fun! By protecting their habitat, and working to restore it, the Nature Conservancy of Canada makes sure these otters will have safe places to live and play for generation to come. 

On the Trail

My team and I have been doing a lot of trail maintenance this year! Many Nature Conservancy of Canada properties have trails where you can go for a hike. This lets you experience these wonderful areas without damaging them or stressing out the wildlife that live there.

This year, I learned how to do something new: use a chainsaw!

In March, I took special training to learn how to use a chainsaw safely. When I first became a conservation biologist, I had no idea that it would involve using a chainsaw. But this job has taught me to use all sorts of tools and think creatively.

I had never used a chainsaw before, and at first, I was quite scared. It’s a heavy piece of equipment, and you can hurt yourself if you don’t use it properly. But just like any challenge, if you have the right guidance and attitude, you can overcome your fear. I’m really proud that I can now safely use a chainsaw to keep our forests in Eastern Ontario healthy and accessible for everyone.

When trees fall down across trails, it makes it difficult for people to hike. That’s why we use chainsaws to cut a path. It’s always really sad when a tree falls down. But luckily, even though the tree isn’t growing anymore, it still has a really important role to play in the ecosystem. As the tree starts to decompose, it puts nutrients back into the soil. These nutrients help the next generation of trees grow. The trunk of the tree also becomes great habitat for birds, insects, and small mammals. In order for new trees to grow, they need sunlight. A tree falling down opens up the canopy for more sunlight to get in, which means more trees can grow. 

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Another task I enjoy is working with our partners. I work across a really big area in Eastern Ontario, so I need to talk to a lot of people to make sure the work gets done.

In January, I went to a big meeting to talk about phragmites. Phragmites are an invasive grass species that takes over our wetlands. and makes it hard for species like the Northern river otter and the moose to find food and habitat. We have been removing phragmites for many years in Eastern Ontario. By working together with our friends and neighbours, we can clear more of it, and we can make sure everyone knows the correct way to remove it. Invasive species removal works a lot better when you work as a team!

In April, with the help of our friends and neighbours, we removed six huge garbage bags of invasive species that had escaped from people’s gardens onto one of our properties. If I tried to do that by myself, it would take days! But because we had 12 people, it only took a few hours.

Over the last few months, I’ve also been talking to a lot of people in the community about the work the Nature Conservancy of Canada does. I’ve given presentations to students at Arnprior High School and Queen’s University. I even took student volunteers from the Canadian Wildlife Federation on a guided snowshoe hike to talk about how to identify trees when they don’t have any leaves. You also may have seen me in your school, talking about Northern river otters! It’s important to talk about these species. That way, people who don’t work with them every day, like I do, will know how important they are, and how to protect them.

Working with Animals When You Grow Up

If you want to work outside and protect species like the Northern river Otter, the moose, and the Eastern wolf, you can be a conservation biologist too!

My first piece of advice would be to keep asking questions. Being curious about the environment is really important, because the more questions you ask, the more you’ll learn. I encourage you to learn about the species and habitats that are in your community. You can do this whether you live in a big city, a small town, or a rural area. Using apps like Seek or iNaturalist on your phone will help you to learn more about what you see outside.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada has properties across the country, and you can visit many of them to go hiking. You could ask your parents to volunteer at one of our Conservation Volunteer events. This is a great way to meet your local conservation biologist, do something good for the planet, and learn about the nature where you live. All of this will give you a head-start to being a conservation technician with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and one day, a conservation biologist like me.

But you don’t need to wait to grow up to make a difference! There are things you can do right now to help the planet, like planting a native flower garden, raising awareness in your school, and continuing to be an Earth Ranger.

The post Did You Adopt a Moose, River Otter, or Eastern Wolf? Here’s What We Accomplished Together! first appeared on Earth Rangers.

Researching animals takes a team. Because so many of you adopted polar bears, I knew I had the best team supporting me. I wouldn’t have been able to complete as much of my project — or have as much fun talking about polar bears — without you. Hopefully, everything I’ve learned while researching polar bears will help us make changes, as a team, to protect polar bears and their habitat!

I’m so excited to tell you about everything I accomplished thanks to your polar bear adoptions!

This past year, I traveled to the Arctic Circle. My job was to find polar bears on the sea ice and put special collars on them. These collars help researchers like me follow polar bears wherever they go!

Bears spend most their time traveling on the sea ice, looking for food. Their habitat is huge, and they can walk and swim a long way! When their habitat changes, like when sea ice melts because of climate change, it becomes harder for polar bears to find food, get around, and raise their babies.

For my project, I tried to learn more about where polar bears spend their time. If we know that, we can do a better job of protecting their habitat.

Have you ever wondered how you find a polar bear in the Arctic? You just follow their pawprints! Follow a trail of polar bear pawprints–also known as tracks–and you just might find a bear!

But tracks can be hard to spot. Check out this photo I took: Can you spot the polar bear tracks?

Wildlife adoptions aren’t the only way you can protect animals! Small actions make big changes. Encourage your friends, your parents, and your family to care about polar bears. Together, we can protect polar bears, seals, caribou, and all the other animals in Canada’s Arctic. We need kids just like you to be curious about science. You can study animals the same way I do, and when you grow up, you can have a career in conservation! Maybe I’ll even meet some of you out on the sea ice someday!

The post Did You Adopt A Polar Bear This Year? Here’s What We Accomplished Together! first appeared on Earth Rangers.

Hi, I’m Peter Soroye! I work for Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Canada, and I’m a huge Swiftie — I want to save swift foxes and their habitats in Canada’s prairies! My job is to identify and protect Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) where swift foxes live.

Did you know that swift foxes disappeared from Canada in the 1930s? People turned our prairies’ natural grassland into farmland, so the foxes didn’t have a place to live anymore. But, starting in the 1980s, foxes were reintroduced, or brought back, into the prairies! Now, Canada has a more stable number of swift foxes. Talk about a comeback!

But there’s still a long way to go before swift foxes are safe. Canada’s grasslands are one of the most endangered ecosystems on Earth. Climate change and construction continue to threaten swift foxes and other animals that live on the prairies.

When you adopt a swift fox from Earth Rangers, you’ll support my mission to learn exactly where swift foxes live. That way, we can give these animals the best protection possible. Plus, you’ll receive an adorable plushie, an official adoption certificate, and a cool poster full of fox facts!

Adventures in the Prairie Grasslands

This fall has been an exciting time for Swifties of all kinds! WCS Canada has continued to identify Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) across swift fox habitats in Canada’s prairies. We’ve involved special experts, other conservation organizations, and Indigenous communities. We’ve also come close to identifying Grasslands National Park and Prairie Pastures Conservation Area as KBAs. These are some of Canada’s best habitats for swift foxes. Identifying them as KBAs will draw attention to their importance and attract more protection for swift foxes and the species that depend on them. In 2024, WCS Canada will be finishing proposals for several KBAs in swift fox habitat. We hope that these sites will be officially recognized soon!

While most KBA work happens remotely, on the computer, our work on KBAs in Saskatchewan took us into the field at a few points last year. Early in the summer, I visited the Grasslands National Park Candidate KBA, where swift foxes have been reintroduced. Swift foxes stayed elusive and unseen, but other iconic prairie species like burrowing owls, prairie rattlesnakes, and bison were on full display. Check out these great photos that I took!

The Milk River Area in southeastern Alberta is another area where swift foxes can be found. My friend Michael Rudy, a KBA coordinator who has been leading work on identifying KBAs for Swift Fox, was able to snap this photo of a yawning swift fox during one of his visits to this area.

Conservation on the Computer

Like a lot of conservation, most work on KBAs happens remotely. I work virtually with KBA Coordinators in the prairies to find important sites for swift foxes and other species. My tools of the trade? A computer, a keyboard, and Swiftie — my very own swift fox stuffie, adopted from Earth Rangers!

In this photo, I’m pointing out a draft boundary of the Grasslands National Park Candidate KBA. We develop KBA boundaries by working closely with experts who know these species and sites inside and out.

Conservation in Indigenous Communities

In October, I hosted a workshop at the kihci-okâwîmâw askiy (Great Mother Earth) Knowledge Centre at University of Saskatchewan. We partnered with Birds Canada to put on the event. Together, twenty of us learned about mapping KBAs on Indigenous lands. We shared our perspectives on how to incorporate Indigenous values into KBAs.

Now it’s time to answer your questions!

Where do swift foxes live?

How old do swift foxes get?

Are swift foxes more like dogs or cats?

How fast can swift foxes run?

Are swift foxes endangered?

The post Calling All Swifties! Chasing the Swift Fox with Peter Soroye first appeared on Earth Rangers.

Hi! My name is Nick Paroshy. I study polar bears at the University of Alberta. I’m learning all about how polar bears move through the Arctic Circle. Because of climate change, some of the sea ice that polar bears depend on to get around and hunt for their prey is melting. I’ve been studying polar bears who live in two areas of the Arctic: one called the Beaufort Sea, and the other called Hudson Bay. This will help me and my team better understand how polar bears move on the sea ice. The more we know about their movement, the more we’ll be able to help them adapt to climate change.

When you adopt a polar bear from Earth Rangers this year, you’ll be supporting me as I track polar bears and work through a lot of complicated math to find patterns in their movements. You’ll receive a cuddly polar bear stuffie with soft white fur, along with an adoption certificate, a trading card, and a poster for your locker or your bedroom wall.

Check out the adoption section in the Earth Rangers App to learn more, and check out these cool photos we took while tracking polar bears!

How I Research Polar Bears in the Beaufort Sea

This photo was taken from a helicopter high up above the ice where the polar bears live. Although they may look cute and cuddly, polar bears are wild animals, and it’s unsafe for human beings to get close to them. That’s why polar bear researchers like me don’t walk around looking for bears–we scout them out from the safety of a helicopter.

Don’t worry–this polar bear is safe and sound, just unconscious – kind of like being in a deep sleep! In order to track polar bears and learn more about their movements, we need to tag them with tracking devices. These tracking devices let me use a computer to follow them around.

But remember: polar bears are wild animals, and it’s not safe for human beings to get close to them. We can’t ask a polar bear politely if we can tag it. Instead, we tranquilize the polar bear. This means that we give the bear a dose of medicine that sends it to sleep for a little while–just long enough for us to tag the polar bear and leave safely.

First, from the safety and comfort of our helicopter, we aim a dart at the polar bear. When we’re sure that the dart will land safely on the polar bear, we send it out. We watch the dart fly out and connect with the polar bear’s skin. Then we wait as the medicine makes the bear calm and sleepy enough to lie down, close its eyes, and become unconscious. At that point, we land the helicopter and begin to measure and tag the polar bear so we can track it.

Here is a photo of me measuring a polar bear’s head. We need to collect all sorts of measurements to compare bears to each other. Once we have all our measurements, I fit the tracking device securely on the polar bear. Then my team and I return to our helicopter and fly off to find another bear.

Bears come in all sizes. They can be kids or teenagers or parents. Some bears are huge! See how big this bear is compared to me! Look at my hand next to its paw! Polar bears have very large claws which can seriously hurt humans, but help them hunt seals.

Check out this photo of a ringed seal that I saw during my journey! We call them ringed seals because of the circular patterns on their fur. These creatures happen to be polar bears’ favourite food. If there aren’t enough ringed seals, then polar bears don’t have enough to eat. That’s why it’s important for us to conserve ringed seals along with polar bears.

Now That I’m Home from the Arctic

Studying polar bears doesn’t mean that I spend all my time flying over the Arctic Circle in a helicopter! Once I’ve tagged enough polar bears with tracking devices, I come home and study the data that they’re sending me. It’s my job to find patterns in the data, talk about what I’m finding with other scientists, and write down everything that I’ve learned.

Right now, I’m focusing on putting all of my research on polar bears together into a very long piece of writing called a thesis. When that’s done, I’ll publish it in a journal. This isn’t the kind of journal that you hide under your mattress to keep your secrets safe from your little siblings–it’s a magazine that scientists read to learn about the discoveries of other scientists.

I’ll also defend my thesis in front of a group of my teachers. They’ll ask me all kinds of questions about polar bears, about my research methods, and about everything I’ve discovered. When that’s over, I’ll graduate with a Master’s Degree in Science.

If you want to research polar bears when you grow up, you might go through this process someday, too! But whether or not you decide to become a scientist like me, I hope that you’ll stay interested in polar bears, climate change, and the Arctic Circle. We need kids like you to stay curious and compassionate so that polar bears and their icy habitat will be safe for generations to come.

The post UnBEARably Exciting! An Arctic Adventure in the Beaufort Sea with Polar Bear Researcher Nick Paroshy first appeared on Earth Rangers.

We got a ton of great guesses in last week’s True or False, it’s time to find out who got it right! Are you ready for the great reveal?

The answers are…

1. A wolf’s sense of smell is roughly 100 times stronger than a human’s – TRUE
   
   Wolves have a very strong sense of smell – even better than dogs! This helps them to track prey as well as other wolves. Their smell also allows them to communicate with each other, and make sure they’re not too close to another pack’s territory.
   
2. Wolves are a threat to the elk population – FALSE
   
   This is a myth often brought up to argue against the reintroduction of wolves into an area, from hunters and rangers who are worried that wolves may wipe out important game needed to eat.
   
   There is no proof that wolves are a threat to the elk population that lives in their territories. Research shows that in some areas where wolves were reintroduced the elk population has even increased. This is thanks to wolves primarily hunting weak and sick elk, creating stronger elk herds.
   
3. Grey wolves are the biggest member of the Canidae family – TRUE
   
   Canidae is the family of dogs, coyotes, foxes, and…wolves! Of all these animals, the grey wolf is the biggest one. They can grow up to 6.6 feet long and 2.5 feet tall.
   
4. Wolf packs are made up of Alphas, Betas, and Omegas ­– FALSE
   
   The concept of an “alpha” wolf or any beta and omega is an inaccurate and outdated idea. This myth came from the idea that there are dominant or powerful “alpha” wolves who fight their way to the top, but in reality, a pack of wild wolves consists of families with parents and their children. The family works together to survive. As they grow older, young wolves might leave their parents’ pack to start a family of their own.
   
5. Wolves love to howl at the moon at night – FALSE
   
   Wolves are often depicted howling at night under the moon, and while they do howl, it’s not at the moon! If you hear wolves howling at night, they’re most likely communicating with one another. There is no connection between wolves and the full moon.
   
6. Wolf pups don’t open their eyes for 2 or more weeks after they are born – TRUE

Wolf pups are born both blind and deaf. They open their eyes about 2 weeks after birth and take a few extra days to see shapes very well. During this time, they stay in their dens and are cared for by their parents.

Help Eastern Wolves with a Wildlife Adoption!

Head to the Adoptions Section in the App!

The post Can you wolf-igure out what’s true or false: Reveal first appeared on Earth Rangers.

These fairytales make wolves out to be scary beasts, but in reality, they are far from evil! The number of wild wolf attacks is very low. In fact, wolves would rather avoid humans completely.

Where did these myths come from? They started at a time when wolf populations were in conflict with farmers, who were angry because their sheep and cattle were being preyed on. Today, you can find these and many other stories about wolves, but which ones are true?

True or false?

Earth Rangers, let’s put your wolf knowledge to the test! Can you figure out which facts are true and which are false? Write your guesses in the comments.

1. A wolf’s sense of smell is roughly 100 times stronger than a human’s
   
2. Wolves are a threat to the elk population
   
3. Wolves are the biggest members of the Canidae family
   
4. Wolf packs are made up of Alphas, Betas, and Omegas
   
5. Wolves love to howl at the moon at night
   
6. Wolf pups don’t open their eyes for 2 or more weeks after they are born

Check back next week for the answer!

Tap here for more cool stuff like this!

Help Eastern Wolves with a Wildlife Adoption!

Head to the Adoptions Section in the App or visit the Earth Rangers Shop!

The post Can you wolf-igure out what’s true or false? first appeared on Earth Rangers.

The Mysterious Earthworm

It might surprise you to find out that we don’t know a whole lot about many species of earthworm. We know they come in different colors. Some live in trees, some live in lakes, and one type of Australian earthworm can grow to be up to three meters long! We know that the roles earthworms play in their ecosystems are complex. (They’re sometimes called ‘ecosystem engineers.’) That’s why it’s important to understand HOW earthworms are distributed and what effect they’re having on the ecosystems they’re in.

Invasion of the Earthworms

First, let’s talk about how earthworms came to Canada. There were almost NO earthworms in Canada after the last ice age. People brought them here from Asia and Europe because earthworms are often great for gardens and agriculture – they aerate the soil and they make nutrients more available to plants. But it’s not all good news. When non-native species are brought to a new place, there can be consequences.

Into the Woods

Earthworms can become a problem when they end up in our forests. They decompose leaf litter, a thick layer of decaying leaves that native plants and animals rely on. Earthworms do it much faster than native decomposers. This can cause biodiversity loss and the release of greenhouse gases – two things we definitely DON’T want.

But HOW do earthworms end up where they’re not supposed to be? Blame it on people. Earthworms are often spread when people use them as fishing bait, put them into their gardens, or move soil or plants around.

We can appreciate the good work worms do in our gardens, but make every effort to keep them out of the forests where they can do harm. Avoid moving soil or wood into forests because worms can hide in even the smallest amounts of both. And, if you’re going fishing, definitely do not leave your bait behind.

A New Friend!

Everyone who logged a habit during the Gross Out Challenge will unlock a special Worm Buddy for your avatar in the Earth Rangers App! Visit the Community Rewards section of the Challenge to learn more. We’re proud to support the work Stephen Paterson is doing, so in honor of our Gross-Out Challenge, we’re making a donation to contribute to his important research.

The post Earth Rangers, You Squashed the Gross Out Challenge! first appeared on Earth Rangers.

What do you call a lion that changes color?

A chamelion

Tap here for more cool stuff like this!

The post Pawsitively Hilarious Jokes #16 first appeared on Earth Rangers.