The independent panel that assesses species at risk in Ontario has marked two subtypes of lake whitefish as extinct and uplisted the red-headed woodpecker, which is now considered endangered.
The Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario, or COSSARO, also made 15 additions this year to its tally of plants and animals at risk.
The number of reclassified species is unusually high this year because the committee was working through a backlog. The panel didn’t have enough members to vote on species in 2018, and then the following year, the chair of the committee was diagnosed with cancer.