The news is starting to improve for some endangered animals in Canada. The latest animal to win a victory under the Species at Risk Act – in the form of a ruling that forces Environment Canada to identify the habitat that it needs to survive and recover – is the greater sage grouse.

But as with other recent victories for endangered species – such as the recent commitment to protect the habitat of the Northeast Pacific northern and southern resident killer whale populations off the B.C. coast – it took some legal prodding to get the federal government to act.

In this case, a lawsuit filed by Ecojustice on behalf of several conservation groups led to a recent decision by a federal court judge in Vancouver that Environment Minister Jim Prentice failed to uphold the Species at Risk Act by refusing to identify critical habitat in its recovery plans for the prairie bird. Once critical habitat is identified, the government must protect both the animal and the territory it needs for its survival.

The greater sage grouse is found only in a remote area in the southeastern corner of Alberta and southwestern corner of Saskatchewan. In the past year alone, sage-grouse numbers have dropped an alarming 20 per cent with Alberta Fish and Wildlife counting 66 males on mating grounds in spring 2009, down from 84 in 2008.

The species is known for its intricate courtship dance, in which males fan out their tail feathers and puff air in and out of air sacs on their necks, pushing out their chests. They perform for several hours a day to attract females, while both sexes hoot and cackle.