CALGARY – Conservation experts from around the world are making five main recommendations to protect one of Canada’s most highly endangered birds from extinction.

One of the suggestions is to protect the bird by potentially reducing predator numbers, while another is to establish a captive breeding centre.

The ideas come from a workshop by the Calgary Zoo that brought together biologists, ranchers, government and energy industry representatives.

The sage grouse population has dropped by 98 per cent over the last 25 to 45 years; there are fewer than 138 birds remaining in Canada.

The federal government issued an emergency order to protect thegrouse across 1,700 square kilometres of Crown land in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The Calgary Zoo says models suggest current reproduction and survival rates are too low to sustain the wild population and extinction is likely within two to five years if action isn’t taken immediately.

“The greater sage grouse is almost extinct in Canada,” Axel Moehrenschlager, head of the zoo’s Centre for Conservation Research, said in a news release Thursday.

“Sustained collaboration, partnerships, political will and sound science will be key to ensure that the species and its habitat are protected for future generations,” he said.

“Implementing conservation action on the ground will also require the respectful involvement of landowners, who are stewards of prairie land where other endangered species have already made a comeback.

“We are hopeful that we can still bring this species back from the brink of extinction.”