Pokémon Go stops, gyms and creatures may be the next extinct thing in areas of Uplands Park.
Botanist Wylie Thomas happily reports the plentiful digital creatures will diminish in Cattle Point after battling since December.
Pokémon Go is a popular, GPS-enabled game that people play on smart phones that was negatively impacting the conservation efforts of Thomas, myriad volunteers throughout Oak Bay, and the municipality itself.
The object of the game is to roam the landscape hunting wild pokémon, which players capture using pokéballs. There are hundred of species of pokémon to collect, and players must find pokéstops to replenish their arsenal of pokéballs. Stops are usually located near real objects on the landscape such as geographical markers and monuments. Players then battle other pokémon at gyms, also connected to landmarks.
Thomas discovered Uplands Park was full of pokéstops and Cattle Point home to a pokégym.
“There’s a vernal pool there, with Macouns meadow foam,” Thomas said. “It draws people there and it spawns pokémon.”
That created a significant increase in foot traffic through a critical habitat for endangered plants in the maritime meadows and vernal pools.
In December he requested Niantic, creators of the game, deactivate the pokéstops and gym and learned of success last week.