Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Conservation Planning Workshop

African Lion Safari, alongside partners such as the American Bird Conservancy, Queens University, Wilder Institute, and Wildlife Preservation Canada (WPC), have been organizing a series of workshops to plan conservation actions for Eastern loggerhead shrikes.

The Loggerhead Shrike is a songbird native to North America that has been experiencing a drastic decline in population. Many reasons have been cited as potentially contributing to the decline of the species, including loss of habitat, pesticides, road mortality, adverse weather conditions and competition for resources.

African Lion Safari became a partner in conservation efforts in 2008. The park is one of six conservation breeding centers, coordinated by Wildlife Preservation Canada, that breeds a small population of Loggerhead Shrike and releases young into the wild. The addition to the wild population with birds produced from African Lion Safari has helped keep the species from disappearing in Ontario.

The workshops to date have involved developing goals, a full-annual cycle model, and conducting a population analysis to make corresponding projections.

The most recent workshop consisted of information-sharing, identifying threats in breeding and overwintering grounds, and drafting action plans that span the next 10 years that address these threats.

It is with hope that the continuous collaboration between partners in both the U.S. and Canada will strengthen the conservation plan for the future of this migratory bird species.

To read WPC’s blog about the Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Conservation Planning Workshop, click here.

To learn more about our Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Conservation Programme, click here.