Wild ferrets gaining a foothold in Arizona

The black-footed ferret population reintroduced to the wild in Arizona seems to be settling in nicely.

Recent counts by volunteers and Arizona Game and Fish Department personnel turned up 33 ferrets, with 24 of those  wild-born and never previously trapped. 

While this doesn't sound like much to get enthused about, it is when you consider that at one time the worldwide population for this animal was only 18, and that they were twice believed extinct.

"I'm excited about the numbers," said Jeff Pebworth, a Game and Fish Department wildlife program manager. "You think about this one spotlighting effort and compare it to where the ferrets once were and you can't help but be pleased."

Spotlighting is a procedure involving the use of high-powered lights to locate and identify the ferrets, as the nocturnal animals emerald-green eyes reflect in the night.

The next survey will be in October, and volunteers are welcome and appreciated.

"Volunteers have played a critical role in the reintroduction process since Day 1," Pebworth said. "Without their dedication, I'm not sure we'd have as good an understanding of where we stand in this reintroduction effort."

One of North America's most endangered mammals, it sounds as if black-footed ferrets are making themselves at home on the range.

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo courtesy of Arizona Game and Fish Department

Endangered right whale population may have grown

Marine biologists are cautiously optimistic that the North Atlantic right whale population has increased for the second consecutive season.

Aerial and on-the-water surveys sighted almost 200 of the endangered mammals, including 39 mothers with calves. This is an increase from the 150 noted during last year's survey.

Conducted by conservation partners including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,  Wildlife Trust and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the results are a hopeful indication of continued population growth for the whales.

Each winter, the whales migrate to waters off the coast of Florida and Georgia, where the females give birth.

Unfortunately, this season also set another record, with the number of right whales documented as being entangled in commercial fishing gear up to an all-time high of five. Only four of those whales were successfully freed from the potentially life-threatening lines.

There are only about 400 North Atlantic right whales in existence. Entanglement in commercial fishing gear and ship collisions are the most common human causes of serious injury and death for these animals.

Here's hoping that the numbers don't lie and that conservation efforts are helping this magnificent creature come back from the brink of extinction.

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission / NOAA

Gray wolf delisting a step closer to reality; Idaho hunting season scheduled

The decision to remove some gray wolf populations from protection under the Endangered Species Act is a step closer to actually happening.

The federal rule to delist packs in some Northern Rockies and Western Great Lakes states was published in the Federal Register last week and is scheduled to become effective May 2.

This will mean that wolf management will become a job for state and tribal wildlife agencies instead of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Idaho Fish and Game commissioners have already adopted dates for the wolf hunting season in the state and will set quotas once delisting takes effect.

"We have to move on and manage them similar to other big-game animals," Idaho Fish and Game Director Cal Groen said. " This is good news for wolves, elk, rural communities and hunters. I believe this action will help defuse the animosity and anger associated with wolves when we can manage wolves in concert with our other big game species."

The Fish and Wildlife Service will monitor the delisted wolf populations for a minimum of five years to ensure that they continue to sustain their recovery.  At the end of that time, it will be decided if relisting, continued monitoring or ending service monitoring is appropriate.

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo: Tracy Brooks/USFWS

California condor found shot; second one in three weeks

*Updated with additional reward being offered

A California condor was found to have been shot and is the second condor in less than a month to be discovered with lead shotgun pellets lodged in its body.

The juvenile female was trapped by biologists from the Ventana Wildlife Society, who three weeks ago discovered an adult male condor with 15 shotgun pellets in its wings and torso.

"We were alarmed when one condor was found shot," said Ventana Wildlife Society Director Kelly Sorenson. "Now with two birds in such a short time, we are deeply concerned."

Although both birds are still alive, it remains unclear whether either will be able to return to the wild.

Each bird was tested and found to be suffering from lead poisoning. They have been transferred to the Los Angeles Zoo for long-term treatment.

Tiny manatee orphan in Florida rescued

A Florida manatee calf rescued by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologists Thursday is one of the smallest they have aided.

The diminutive female weighs only 50 pounds and measures just over 3 feet in length.

With no sign of the mother in the area, the orphaned calf was captured by members of the Marine Mammal Stranding Team from the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.

Unable to survive on her own because she is so young, the calf was taken to Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo and will receive 24-hour care from the zoo's manatee rehabilitation team.

No word on whether the young mammal will be released or kept at the zoo after fully recovering.

Spring is the beginning of the manatee calving season, so this orphan may be the first of many.

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Whooping crane population declines for first time in almost a decade

 

A flock of endangered whooping cranes has begun its spring migration to breeding grounds in Canada, but it has experienced a population decline for the first time in almost a decade.

This past winter was the worst on record in terms of bird deaths, according to Tom Stehn, whooping crane coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Total winter mortality is estimated at six adults and 15 chicks, a loss of 7.8% of the flock," Stehn stated. "When added to the 34 birds that left Texas in spring 2008 and failed to return in 2009, 20% of the flock was lost during the last 12 months."

Stehn attributes the winter losses to poor habitat conditions at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, which the birds migrate to each fall. Low rainfall totals resulted in saltier bays and also fewer blue crabs, the primary food source for the cranes.

Jaguar Macho B may have been euthanized prematurely

*Updated with information on the State Attorney General's office involvement

Macho B, the wild jaguar euthanized shortly after being recaptured in Arizona, may not have been suffering from kidney failure.

That is at least the opinion of pathologist Sharon Dial of the University of Arizona veterinary diagnostic laboratory, who reviewed tissue samples taken from the dead cat.

Dial stated that the animal may have been simply suffering from dehydration and that authorities may have decided too quickly to euthanize the jaguar.

"Nothing is absolute," Dial said. "There is nothing to say that he absolutely would have recovered, but I can say by looking at the kidneys that there is no structural reason why he would not have."

"I've looked at a lot of cat kidneys, not jaguar kidneys," Dial added. "For a supposed 15-year-old cat, he had damned good looking kidneys."

Arizona Game and Fish Department officials are not happy with the comments made by Dial, believing them to be premature.

Two sea lions euthanized since inception of recent Columbia River control plan

Two California sea lions that were recently trapped as part of an effort to protect endangered fish populations have been euthanized.

Both mammals tested positive for a potentially contagious viral disease and had to be put down instead of transferred to an aquarium as previously planned.

"Our primary goal is to place healthy animals in the approved facilities that have asked to receive them," said Rick Hargrave, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman. "These animals had an infectious disease that was potentially contagious and could not be placed in a zoo or aquarium without endangering other animals."

The actions are part of an effort, previously reported in Outposts, to control sea lion populations that have been documented preying on chinook and steelhead below Bonneville Dam.

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo: A California sea lion caught and awaiting relocation during a 2007 effort to reduce the mammal population below Bonneville Dam. Credit: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Gray wolf removal from Endangered Species Act protection affirmed

The decision to remove some gray wolf populations from protection under the Endangered Species Act will proceed as originally announced in January.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar stated today that he will uphold the decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to delist wolf populations in the northern Rockies and western Great Lakes states of Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Utah and Wisconsin, plus portions of Washington, Oregon and Utah.

"The recovery of the gray wolf throughout significant portions of its historic range is one of the great success stories of the Endangered Species Act," Salazar said in a press release issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior. "The successful recovery of this species is a stunning example of how the Act can work to keep imperiled animals from sliding into extinction."

Wolves in Wyoming will continue to be protected under the act, due to an inadequate wolf management plan, as will wolves in other parts of the country, including the Southwest.

This delisting will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register and will mean that wolf management will become a job for state and tribal wildlife agencies instead of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

However, the Fish and Wildlife Service will monitor the delisted wolf populations for a minimum of five years to ensure that they continue to sustain their recovery.  At the end of that time, they will decide if relisting, continued monitoring or ending service monitoring is appropriate.

While some state Fish and Game departments and outdoor organizations such as the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance Foundation applaud the decision to move ahead with the delisting, environmental groups such as Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity vehemently oppose it and are threatening lawsuits to overturn the plan.

--Kelly Burgess

Photo: A gray wolf in the wild. Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Jaguar Macho B's capture may have hastened his death

One of the two veterinarians who performed the necropsy on Macho B, the jaguar captured in Arizona last month, believes that the tranquilizing and stress from the ordeal contributed to the cat's health issues that led to the subsequent decision to euthanize him.

In an interview published in the Arizona Daily Star, Dr. Dean Rice, Phoenix Zoo executive vice president and one of the doctors performing the necropsy, said that while Macho B likely had kidney deterioration prior to being captured and tranquilized, the stress of the trapping probably exacerbated the problem.

"I'm sure the kidneys were going bad for some time. Kidneys don't go bad at the snap of a finger," Rice said. "If you sedate someone with drugs and the kidneys aren't working, the sedative can have a negative effect. My guess is that sedation probably aggravated his kidneys."

Jaguar Macho B euthanized because of severe kidney failure

Sad news involving Macho B, the jaguar recently collared and re-released in southern Arizona. Unfortunately, the big cat had to be euthanized today after veterinarians determined that he was in severe and unrecoverable kidney failure, a common ailment in older cats.

"It is a sad, but appropriate course of action to euthanize this animal given the hopelessly terminal nature of his condition," Steve Spangle, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Arizona field supervisor, said in a press release.

The decision to euthanize him was made in consultations between the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Phoenix Zoo.

As mentioned in a previous posting, the jaguar was taken to the Phoenix Zoo after being recaptured today. Wildlife officials had determined that the animal's health may be in jeopardy based on monitoring of recent data transmitted from the satellite tracking collar, which showed a reduced pattern of movement for the jaguar than previously noted.

"This is an unfortunate and disappointing situation," said Gary Hovatter, deputy director of the Arizona Game and Fish Department. "We were looking forward to using the data acquired from Macho B to learn more about the species' use of the borderland habitats in order to further conserve the species as a whole."

A necropsy will be performed to learn more about the jaguar's condition and to hopefully provide clues as to how long the animal had been sick.

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo: Macho B, shortly after being collared and released in southern Arizona. Credit: Arizona Game and Fish Department

Jaguar recaptured in Arizona due to health concerns

*Update: Jaguar has been euthanized. Please see most recent post

Macho B, the jaguar recently captured, collared and released in southern Arizona, has been recaptured after wildlife officials determined that the animal's health may be in jeopardy.

Monitoring of recent data transmitted from the satellite tracking collar showed that the jaguar has had a reduced pattern of movement than previously noted.

"We have been monitoring Macho B's movements continuously since the initial capture. While he was still moving around, we noticed a decreased level of activity over the weekend that warranted further investigation," said Bill Van Pelt, Arizona Game and Fish Department birds and mammals program manager.