Every spring, millions of people gather to celebrate one of Canada’s sweetest traditions: maple syrup. But hidden among Quebec’s sugar maples is a small bird that may be telling us something important about the health of these forests: the yellow-bellied sapsucker.

In this episode of This Is Wild, host Aliya Jasmine dives into the surprising relationship between sapsuckers, biodiversity and maple syrup. As sapsuckers slowly start to forego the forests they once called home, forest ecologists are learning how the health of Quebec’s environment could be key to its economy, and why a forest with more than just maple trees may actually be healthier—and more productive.

Could these colourful little woodpeckers become an early warning system for the future of one of Canada’s most beloved ecosystems?

To learn more about WWF-Canada's Maple Initiative and what you can do to help protect Quebec's maple forests, head to wwf.ca/thisiswild.

Give to WWF-Canada: wwf.ca/donate

Sign up for WWF-Canada’s newsletter, Living Planet News: wwf.ca/signup-for-living-planet-news/

If you have any questions or suggestions for the show, you can email us at thisiswild@wwfcanada.org

Killer whales are one of the most iconic species in Canada. They’re cultural symbols, tourist attractions and even hockey icons. So why aren’t we doing a better job of protecting them?

In this episode of This Is Wild, host Aliya Jasmine explores the world of the southern resident killer whales, an endangered subpopulation that swims up and down the coast of B.C. and Washington State. There are only around 75 of them left in the wild.

Despite legal protections under Canada’s Species at Risk Act, industrial development and shipping continue to put pressure on the whales’ critical habitat.

From the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline to Roberts Bank Terminal 2, the fight to save these whales raises a question that extends far beyond the Salish Sea: What happens when economic development collides with the fight to save an endangered species?

To learn more about WWF-Canada's initiatives to protect southern resident killer whale habitat, you can go to wwf.ca/thisiswild

Sign up for WWF-Canada’s newsletter, Living Planet News: wwf.ca/signup-for-living-planet-news/

If you have any questions or suggestions for the show, you can email us at thisiswild@wwfcanada.org

This Is Wild is returning to your feed on September 17, 2026!

This podcast from WWF-Canada is all about the incredible species that call Canada home and the people working to protect them. In each episode, Season 2 host Aliya Jasmine takes listeners on a journey into the life of one species to learn all about how it survives, the threats it faces, and the conservation solutions that could change everything.