Find species data

The Government of Yukon manages a wide variety of data related to species and ecosystems.

Self-serve open data

Some of our data is available for direct viewing and download, including:

Yukon Conservation Data Centre

The Yukon Conservation Data Centre gathers, manages, analyzes and shares information on Yukon animals, plants, fungi and ecosystems. We provide a central, up to date source for information about species in the Yukon and location-specific information for species that are of conservation concern.

Wildlife Key Areas

Wildlife Key Areas (WKA) are regions used by wildlife for critical, seasonal life functions.

Biophysical layers

Biophysical plot locations, wetlands (select areas) and ecoregions. See the Biophysical layer on GeoYukon.

Surface disturbance

Surface disturbance data is available on GeoYukon in the Environmental Monitoring layer. This layer shows human-caused disturbance mapped from satellite imagery or aerial photography.

Direct data requests

If the data you are looking for is not available on the self-serve open data platforms listed above, it can be requested by contacting the program area directly.

• For species at risk and species of conservation concern email yukoncdc@yukon.ca
• For Wildlife Key Area email wka@yukon.ca
• For biophysical and ecological email elc@yukon.ca
• For all other data requests email fish.wildlife@yukon.ca

We will respond to your request within 5 business days to provide you with an estimate for how long it will take to fulfill your request.

Sensitive Ecological Data

Some Fish and Wildlife data may have restricted access. Data has restricted access if it meets any of the following criteria that identifies it as Sensitive Ecological Data:

• Data and information that if inappropriately released could significantly increase the risk of harm to the species, their habitats, the environment, or interfere with their conservation or recovery.

• Data and information that if inappropriately released could harm Government of Yukon relationships with other agencies, organizations or governments.
• Data and information that if inappropriately released could cause an unacceptable risk to government mandates, programs and activities.

Requesting Sensitive Ecological Data

To access Sensitive Ecological Data a requestor must have a business case for needing access to the data and be willing to enter into a Confidentiality and Non-disclosure Agreement, or other data sharing agreement.

Proprietary data accepted in confidence from a Third Party as well as data that the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act prohibits us from releasing will not be released.

For detailed information on how we share data please see the Fish and Wildlife Branch Data Sharing Policy.

Submit a request for Sensitive Ecological Data

1. Complete the Sensitive Ecological Data Request form.
2. Submit the form by email to the relevant email address listed on the form.
3. Once your request is processed, you will be informed if your request has been approved or denied. If your request is denied, you can appeal the decisions by emailing fish.wildlife@yukon.ca. The Director of the Fish and Wildlife Branch and relevant staff will review the appeal request.

We welcome information from anyone who makes observations while out on the land. The Government of Yukon, and all data submitted to the government, are subject to the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (ATIPP) and we may be required to release submitted data when requested. Only data submitted in confidence, following the procedures of the ATIPP Regulation, and data classified as Sensitive Ecological Data are exempt from this release.

Submit species data

You can submit species data by email or by filling out a submission and observation form.

Let us know if you wish to submit your data in confidence. We will determine if that is possible for that data submission. If we are able to accept the data in confidence we will issue a confidentiality receipt following ATIPP procedures.

Submit your data through email

• For species at risk and species of conservation concern email yukoncdc@yukon.ca
• For Wildlife Key Area email wka@yukon.ca
• For biophysical and ecological email elc@yukon.ca
• For aquatic invasive species sightings, email fisheries@yukon.ca
• For all other data email fish.wildlife@yukon.ca

Submit your data using a submission and observation form

• For wildlife habitat observations fill out and submit the Wildlife Habitat Observation form. Learn more about wildlife habitat observation reporting.
• For reports of rare animals fill out and submit the Yukon Conservation Data Centre Field Observation Report – Animal form. Learn more about rare Yukon species sightings.
• For reports of rare plants fill out and submit the Yukon Conservation Data Centre Field Observation Report – Plant form. Learn more about rare Yukon species sightings.

The Yukon Conservation Data Centre gathers, manages, analyzes and shares information on Yukon:

• animals;
• plants;
• fungi; and
• ecosystems.

We provide a central, updated source for scientific information about species in the Yukon and location-specific information for species that are of conservation concern.

We are a member of over 80 data centres co-ordinated by NatureServe.

Lists of species and conservation status ranks

• lists of species of conservation concern (our “Track” list):
  • animals;
  • vascular plants;
• lists of species that may be of conservation concern, for which more information is required (our “Watch” list):
  • animals;
  • vascular plants;
• list of Yukon species assessed as at risk by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada; or
• fact sheets on species we are actively tracking.

You can request complete species lists with conservation status ranks for any taxonomic group by contacting the Yukon CDC at yukoncdc@yukon.ca.

Mapped locations of species of conservation concern

The Yukon Conservation Data Centre (CDC) maps the known localities of plants, animals and ecosystems that are of conservation concern. You can search and view this data using the Government of Yukon's interactive map application, GeoYukon. You can use GeoYukon to explore, print and download map data. Our layers fall under the category "Biological."

View GeoYukon

There are two layers available:

• CDC Species of Conservation Concern; and
• CDC Species of Conservation Concern – Restricted.

CDC Species of Conservation Concern

CDC Species of Conservation Concern contains the vast majority of our mapped locations. It displays mapped locations exactly as mapped in our database and additional information, including the species name and last observation date. Most mapped locations are very small. In order to alert viewers of their presence, the layers are displayed as points (representing the centres of the polygons) when zoomed out at a scale of 1:320,000 or beyond. As you zoom in from 1:320,000, the features will appear as polygons. 

CDC Species of Conservation Concern - Restricted

CDC Species of Conservation Concern - Restricted contains a masked location in the shape of a hexagon and does not identify the species involved. This layer is for the handful of species that have been identified as being Species Susceptible to Harm – species where unrestricted sharing of data places populations, residences or occurrences at risk of intentional or inadvertent harm, interfering with their conservation or recovery. If your area of interest falls within one of these hexagons, contact the Yukon CDC for further information. Details, including species name and exact location, may be released, provided the user has a business case for needing the data and they sign a Confidentiality and Non-disclosure Agreement. This will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

For more details

See a more detailed guide on this data.

You can request additional details on mapped locations from the Yukon Conservation Data Centre, including a complete occurrence report, by contacting the CDC at yukoncdc@yukon.ca.

How to cite Yukon CDC data

If you use Yukon CDC data in a report, assessment, paper, website or other publication please cite it as follows:

Mapped Data from GeoYukon

Yukon Conservation Data Centre. [Year]. CDC Species of Conservation Concern layer, GeoYukon web application. Available at https://mapservices.gov.yk.ca/geoyukon/. Accessed: [date accessed].

Data received directly from Yukon CDC

Yukon Conservation Data Centre. [Year]. [Species] mapped locations in Yukon Biotics database [Month and Year]. Government of Yukon, Department of Environment, Whitehorse, Yukon.

Yukon Conservation Data Centre. [Year]. [Species] information in Yukon Biotics database [month and year]. Government of Yukon, Department of Environment, Whitehorse, Yukon.

Wildlife Key Areas (WKA) are regions used by wildlife for critical, seasonal life functions. The Government of Yukon uses WKA information to manage and protect animals that are vulnerable to disturbances or destruction of key areas.

Learn more and view Wildlife Key Area data.