Officials with the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation say the fires in the north are having a noticeable effect on the movement of wildlife.
Federation Executive Director Darrell Crabbe says some staff members have reported seeing animals on the move, escaping the flames.
Crabbe says with all of the activity, especially with large species like moose, bears and predators, drivers should slow down and use caution.
However he says the long term effect of wildfires won’t necessarily be all bad.
“For a lot of the animals, the forest fires in a couple of years is going to create some terrific habitat but it is going to force a lot of them into relatively confined area for the next little while and that takes a while to sort out as those animals disperse from those areas”.
Crabbe says many species will be directly affected by this summer’s fires, but one of specific concern is the Woodland Caribou.
“It is already listed as a species at risk and in Saskatchewan we have an estimated 5000 population and their primary summer range is old forest and we know that usually old forest is very prone to forest fires because they are older and dried up”.
Crabbe says many species of nesting birds in the north will also be negatively affected this summer.