Anticosti (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃tikɔsti]) is an island located between the Jacques Cartier and Honguedo Straits, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in L'Île-d'Anticosti (Municipality), Minganie MRC, Côte-Nord, Quebec, Canada.

It is recognized for its exceptional fossil assemblage representing the first global mass extinction of animal life on Earth.

[2] Located within protected areas[3] free from any industrial activity, the site is endowed with exceptionally well-preserved, abundant and diverse fossil fauna.

This Anticosti fauna represents the first mass extinction of animal life on a global scale, 447 – 437 million years ago, at the end of the Ordovician period.

[6][5] Anticosti has had several First Nations names: Natigôsteg, “advanced land” in Mi'kmaq; Natashquan, “where we catch bears”, in Innu.

Its coastline is 520 km (320 mi) long, and is rocky and dangerous, offering little shelter for ships except in Gamache, Ellis, and Fox Bays.

For thousands of years, Anticosti Island was the territory of the indigenous peoples who lived on the mainland and used it as a hunting ground.

He provided its first written description and named it Isle de l'Assomption,[11] because he reached it on the Day of the Assumption of Mary.

During these years the island property changed hands several times, its owners generally using it for the harvesting of timber; otherwise no real development took place.

[11] In 1895, Anticosti was sold for $125,000 to French chocolate maker Henri Menier who also leased the shore fishing rights.

He constructed the entire village of Port-Menier, built a cannery for packing fish and lobsters, and attempted to develop its resources of lumber, peat and minerals.

Furthermore, he converted the island into a personal game preserve and introduced nonindigenous animals for this purpose, including a herd of 220 white-tailed deer.

He used and maintained it for a time but eventually decided it was not an economically viable operation and sold it to the Wayagamack Pulp and Paper Company in 1926 for $6,000,000.

In July 1937, an offer was received from a consortium of Dutch and German capitalists who intended to build a sulphite mill and wanted a steady supply of pulpwood and access to Canadian capital.

In the autumn of that year, a team of German surveyors travelled to the island to examine its timber and export potential.

Despite the substantial offer, the promise of thousands of new jobs, and the fact that there were no legal methods to block the sale, the suspicions remained.

With its 24 rivers and streams bountiful with salmon and trout, the island is now a tourist destination for anglers and hunters, particularly from the United States and Canada, as well as for paleontologists, bird watchers and hikers.

In 2023, the perimeter of Anticosti Island, with two rivers, was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for its abundance of fossils.

[24] The World Heritage Site includes the entire coastline of the island (except for the region around the village of Port-Menier), and the banks of the Jupiter and Vauréal rivers.

From April to mid-January, the commercial shipping company Relais Nordik services Port-Menier twice weekly with a passenger and cargo vessel.

Every summer from 1924 to 1928, Brothers Marie-Victorin and Rolland-Germain explored the Anticosti-Minganie, the two botanists made many discoveries, including Sececio pseudo-arnica var.

[25] The archives of the University of Montreal present on Flickr: Anticosti, a land of immense spaces, the sea all around and a social world of the 1920s gone forever, series of photos by Marie-Victorin: Brother Kirouac (1885-1944).

[29] While populations are declining elsewhere in eastern North America, the orchid flourishes here abundantly, making Anticosti a refuge for this plant.

In all, sixteen introduced species have been attempted, with six proving to be unsuccessful, namely bison, caribou, elk, mink and fisher.

[14] Because of its untamed wilderness and abundant wildlife, Anticosti Island is known for its hunting, fishing and outdoor opportunities and it attracts some 3,000 to 4,000 hunters per year.

In addition to hunting and fishing, many other outdoor recreational activities are supported in this park, such as hiking, horseback riding, nature viewing and sea kayaking.

[41] In June 2011, the Quebec firm Pétrolia claimed to have discovered about 30 billion barrels of oil on the island of Anticosti, which is the first time that significant reserves have been found in the province.

[42] In February 2014, Premier of Quebec Pauline Marois announced that the provincial government would help finance two exploratory shale gas operations as a prelude to hydraulic fracturing on the island, with the province pledging $115-million to finance drilling for two separate joint ventures in exchange for rights to 50% of the licences and 60% of any commercial profit.

[48] A year later, when Pauline Marois announced an investment of 115 million dollars for Petrolia to continue the exploration, the same petition increased up to 36,000 signatures.

The government started a BAPE (environmental evaluation) specific for Anticosti and the report, published on October 3, is in favour of creating a protected area on the island.