The Glow of Extinction

My painting "The Glow of Extinction" represents the anger and fear the humans have toward the Grey Wolf. The glow from the Earth shows that we are no longer welcoming our wildlife, we're slowly leaving them in the dark. Our earth is on fire and the population, habitat loss, and lack of responsibility is definitely not putting it out.  The Grey Wolf, also known as the Timber Wolf, is a beautiful creature. It prefers the open tundra and forests of British Columbia. This animal is very social and mates for life. The average of seven pups are born. Even though it should have a great population, the Grey Wolf is gaining risk of endangerment. Humans fear, superstition, and out right hatred to this animal is leading to aggressive hunting. This decreased its population drastically and dropped it from 50% of its former range. Changes need to be made such as, more awareness of this animal and understanding of its risks and rights. Not only for this animal but every single one has a right. Our wildlife of beautiful British Columbia deserves a life and our future children deserve to see it. We need to stand up for the many creatures that don't have a voice.

Nicola, Grade 10

The Rockin' Blue Tail

The animal that I chose to paint is a Western BC Skink. The Skink is a small lizard like animal that lives in between rocks and in shrubs. The reason that Skinks are threatened is because of habitat destruction from residential construction. Skinks are beautiful creatures that deserve to live a long happy life. As humans we need to take into consideration that they built their homes there first.

Emily, Grade 10

A Rare Beauty

I picked the Western Painted turtles because they are cool and colourful. The painted turtles live in habitats such as ponds, marshes, small lakes, ditches and sluggish streams that usually have muddy bottoms and lots of aquatic plants. These turtles usually live in areas from southern BC to Nova Scotia, and all the way south to Kansas, Louisiana and Georgia. The risks to these endangered species are that they require- wetlands and ponds for hiding and foraging. This habitat is found in very few places within their range because of construction. Deterioration and destruction of their habitat, through pollution, waterway interference and urbanization, is their major threat. The habitats for the Western Painted turtles are usually modified to fit human needs and not theirs. I don't want to see these turtles disappear from the earth forever because of us. Changes we can make are protecting where they live. Taking their homes away from them, prevents the turtles from reproducing. We also need to avoid disturbing them or their habitats. We need to restore their habitats and remove their predators from these areas. I learned that Western Painted turtles are cool by going to a bible camp called SYC and kayaking in the Gardom Lake with my friends. We found turtles swimming in the lake; it was so much fun! I LOVE WESTERN PAINTED TURTLES! There are only 49 different painted turtle species and only 800 to 900 painted turtles estimated left.

Savannah, Grade 9

Sticker Book

In my painting I'm trying to show people how fragile the present is, and how our actions now can effect the future to an extreme. The hand and the sticker page are meant to represent the future and that children may not be able to experience the animals that we have today. My art is based on the Mountain Caribou, the Mountain Caribou is a critically endangered species. Within the last decade their population has dropped about 25%, from approximately 2200 in the late 1990's to approximately 1900 today. This species is linked to many other endangered species and if the caribou were to go extinct it may lead to the disappearance of 21 other species. The Mountain Caribou is globally unique to South eastern British Columbia so if we don't protect it, who will? The main threats to the caribou are habitat loss and fragmentation. Logging and back country recreation are the main causes of both of these. People need to take action and help support these unique animals.

Katie, Grade 9
For more information on the Mountain Caribou go to  www.mountaincaribou.ca/

Dangerous? Who?

My artwork is of a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, surrounded by large bootprints. That symbolizes how helpless many animals are in comparison to people and our machines. The Northern Pacific Rattlesnake has subspecies around BC and some places in the United States . It's not endangered yet, but it will be if we continue to destroy their homes. Entire populations of snakes can be wiped out by destroying a single home; a hibernaculum. Many are also killed by misinformation and fear. People see snakes as a danger, rather than an animal at risk of being endangered.

Kelton
Grade 9

I Am a KIller Whale

The animal that I chose to paint is a Killer Whale. This mammal is endangered because of humans. Our sewage and toxins drain into the oceans where they live, along with air pollutants coming over from Asia. These risks make their prey extinct too.
In my painting, the flowing parts through the water highlight the powerful words written in them. The words are suposed to be from the whales opinion and how it feels. There is only one whale in my painting because it shows how alone the mammal is, swimming through the dark ocean water.  The Killer Whale needs our help to stay protected, which means we need to give it a clean ecosystem.

Maddy, Grade 10

The Canada Warbler

I painted a picture of three Canada Warblers flying around the world because, it represents that with all of the forests being cut down they will have no place to live. It also represents that they are flying around the world night and day looking for a new place to live, but can't find it. I made the Warblers big because even though they are not a very well known species they still have a large impact on BC.There are under 100 Canada warblers left in BC (wikipedia). The Warbler needs a place to live, they breed generally in dense secondary growth forests, red maple swamps, or high elevation alpine forests.

Amy, Grade 10

Their Lives Are In Our Hands

For my painting I have chosen to do a Canada Warbler. Warblers live in secondary growth forest, in swamps, or high elevation alpine forests. Due to the loss of habitat they have recently been assessed as threatened. In my painting I have shown the Warbler in the hands of a human being to show that their lives are in our hands and it is our job to protect and make sure that they have suitable habitat to live in.

Megan, Grade 9

Bears

My picture represents the poaching of bears for sport and the risks to them from urbanization. Many grizzlies are shot and killed either for fun, or for wandering into urban areas. With human civilization expanding, the habitat of these animals are being diminished at uncontrollable rates, thus leaving them no choice, but to head into our towns and cities.  Everyday many of these bears are killed and no one seems to give a second thought of it. When a starving bear is caught in peoples garbage looking for food, just to stay alive, it is considered a threat and must be dealt with. The concept for my art was to show the double standards between humans and animals; by switching their roles and showing people what our actions are like from the other end of the barrel.

Sarah, Grade 9

The Amazing American Avocet

I felt really sad when I found out that B.C. doesn't have an endangered species law, because I love animals! So that's why I created this painting of the American Avocet. The American Avocet lives in shallow fresh and salt water wetlands, mainly in B.C. and a few places in the United States. This bird is threatened because of human activity and limited nesting space. In my painting, you see the bird on the left is sad because the environment is dirty and dark. And that is starting to happen now and will get worse if we don't fix it. In the middle, the bird is flying into a better world - away from BC. On the right, the bird is happy because its surroundings are clean, healthy and bright, the way they should be. There are over 1900 species in B.C. that are at risk! I hope that my artwork will inspire people and make them aware of this too.

Katrina, Grade 9

One Flame

My animal is the Flammulated Owl; a small bird that weighs roughly  55 to 65 grams. This bird is at risk from our lumber industries, as well as pesticides and poisons. This art work shows an Owl in a world were everything is fading away and blending into nothing. It symbolizes the Flammulatd Owl's loss of home and their depravity of life. Us humans might realize, one day, that we could have stopped and changed our ways of dealing with these animals, but by then it will be too late.

Taylor, Grade 9

Endangered Swift Fox

My painting is of a young, endangered Swift Fox. It is looking at buildings that took over its habitat in Canada. Swift Foxes live in deserts or short grass prairies, but due to farmers' long crops and housing, along with manufacturing, the Swift Fox lost its ability to stalk his prey or have a home. In the past, there were animal control programs to kill coyotes, ground squirrels and wolves, but they got the Swift Fox instead, which led to their expiration from Canada in the early 1900s. People realized their actions upon such a beautiful animal and so it got better. But, Swift Foxes are still accidentally being shot, trapped and poisoned. If things changed, the numbers of the Swift Fox would grow. I made this piece of art to open peoples eyes and make a change.

Brooklyn, Grade 9.

If I Could Talk

My painting is of a Great Blue Heron. It is called "If I could talk" because, if this heron could talk, it would be screaming out all the words in the speech bubble. The Great Blue Heron needs our help, because they can't verbally express the sadness and worries they feel. There are buildings in the background to reflect the growth in urbanization which is causing the heron's numbers to diminish. Sometimes people even build right over top of their nesting areas, which are near swamps and wetlands. I wanted my painting to have an impact, and make people feel like they want to make a change. Animals are important to British Columbia. Without them, this province wouldn't be "The Best Place on Earth." An endangered species law must be introduced to BC before the Great Blue Heron, along with over 1900 other endangered species, become extinct.

Emily, Grade 10