These locally designed and manufactured t-shirts are available at all Plum locations for $39.
Rangifer Tarandus • Caribou
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Caribou inhabit almost all natural habitats in northern Canada and are known for their often extensive seasonal movements. Traditionally important to the livelihoods of Canada’s indigenous people, today they can be found in the remote boreal forests and tundra of the North, or in the least accessible areas of the western mountain forests and alpine tundra. Populations at the southern end of their distribution are in steady decline due to habitat loss due to the expansion of industrial development (logging, mining, roads) in the boreal forest and western mountains. In fact, caribou are considered the canaries in the forest coal mine. |
Rana Pipiens • Leopard Frog
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The low, throaty grunt of the northern leopard frog was once a common sound around the marshes, ponds and rivers of much of Canada. Like so many amphibians, in recent decades leopard frog numbers have declined dramatically through substantial parts of their range. The reasons are likely varied, but include pesticide pollution, drying up or draining of breeding sites, fungal attacks, and increased ultraviolet light which appears to cause genetic mutations.
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Grus Americana • Whooping Crane
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Whooping Cranes, named after their distinctive call, measure an impressive 1.5 m (5 feet) in height, and are the tallest birds in North America. These majestic birds are snow white with black-tipped wings, and a red and black head. In the late 1800s, there were about 1,500 birds in Western Canada and the U.S. As human settlement spread westward, the population dropped to a low of 14-16 birds in the 1940s. Conservation efforts since 1938 have resulted in a slow increase and there are now believed to be 373 birds in the wild. |
Canis Lupus • Gray Wolf
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The gray wolf truly symbolizes the spirit of wildness, and has been the focus of legend and folk lore for millennia. It is a highly social animal who mates for life and lives and hunts in packs of various sizes. This top predator can play an important role in maintaining the health of ecosystems by regulating and controlling prey populations. Once ranging throughout the entire North American continent, the gray wolf is today absent from most of southern and eastern Canada and can no longer be found in 95% of its former range in the United States. Protected areas, such as National Parks, plus some reintroductions, have promoted the conservation of a number of southern populations.
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Monodon Monoceros • Narwhal
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The narwhal, also known as the sea unicorn, has long fascinated sea explorers, scientists and aristocracy. This arctic whale is characterized by a single spiraled tusk extending six to nine feet, emerging from the upper jaw and through the lips of adult males. Traditionally hunted by the Inuit and prized for their ivory, narwhals live in the arctic waters of north-eastern Canada, migrating annually from their northern summering waters to their southern wintering range to escape being locked below surface ice. Sadly the number of narwhals is declining as populations are impacted by pollution, commercial fishing of turbot which is their main winter food, and now the reduction of sea ice due to global warming. |
Athene Cunicularia • Burrowing Owl
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The highly endangered, wide-eyed, burrowing owl is slightly comical in appearance, with a short fat body and long stilt like legs.When faced with an intruder at the burrow, the owl can mimic the sound of a rattlesnake “rattle”, which presumably deters some potential predators. The burrowing owl, also known as the ground owl, has disappeared from many areas largely due to the conversion of grassland habitat to agriculture and permanent residential and industrial developments. It faces other problems including fewer burrows when burrow-making species decline, an increased number of introduced predators, and poisoning following consumption of pesticide-laden grasshoppers and insects or poisoned rodents.
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