Videographers Mike McKinlay and Isabelle Groc accompany Environmentalist, Elizabeth Vincer on a field trip to look for skinks at the Vaseux-Bighorn National Wildlife Area in the Okanagan Valley, one of the sites where the species is most abundant. The southern Okanagan region is developing fast, which means the skink is increasingly at risk of losing its habitat. The species was federally designated as “Special Concern” by COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) in 2002 due to its low population size and ongoing habitat lass. In BC, the Western Skink is blue-listed. Skinks play a significant role in the ecosystem and are an important prey item for other species at risk such as the endangered Desert Night snake (Hypsiglena chlorophaea) and the threatened Western Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus).