Recent Thoughts About Reintroduction

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Recent Thoughts About Reintroduction

• Red and Mexican Wolves
• Politics and Biology
• Guard Donkeys?
• Grizzlies
• Lynx
• Whooping Cranes
• Western and Eastern Efforts
• California Condors
• Bald Eagle Update

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Red Wolves

• 1970s few wolves left in Texas and Louisiana
• All that could be found (N 17) were captured by
  late 1970s and brought in for captive breeding
  (Point Defiance Zoo initially then 20 zoos)
• Bred wolves in captivity successfully (300 were
  produced at 30 facilities)
• Began reintroduction in 1987

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Red Wolf Reintroduction Areas
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Red Wolf Reintroduction Stats

• First releases at Alligator River National
  Wildlife Refuge (1992 30 animals roam free)
• 1988-90 marooned species on 3 islands
• 10 on Bulls Island (2 survived through 1990)
• Ended 2005
• 9 on Horn Island (5 survived through 1990)
• None currently
• 4 on St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge (all
  surviving)
• Minimal efforts now, but captives at visitor
  facility
• Goal was to produce wild-reared young wolves for
  reintroduction
• 2006 100 in wild (20 packs, 1.7 mil. Acres in
  NC), 184 in captivity

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Reintroduction Strategies

• Pre-release training
• minimum human contact
• varied feeding regime (boom bust)
• weaned from dog food to all meat
• exposed to live prey
• 10(j) status
• hunting and trapping of game allowed in release
  area to get sportsmen behind the program
• can kill if threatening humans, but not livestock
  or pets

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Reintroduction Success

• ARNWR---1987-90--released 29 captive born wolves
  (19 adults, 10 pups) were released on 13
  occasions
• 6 pups born in the wild
• mid Oct. 1990---gt19 free-ranging
• 17 animals recaptured on 29 occasions
• 1 animal had to be returned to zoo
• 15 died
• 5 vehicle 2 killed by other wolves 2
  infections 1 choked on a coon kidney 1 drowned
  in leghold 4 drowned crossing river
• This is now the center of the reintroduction
  efforts and an increasing wild population is
  distributed in 20 packs across 5 NC counties

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Why No Losses to Human Hatred?

• Pre-release public education campaign
• briefed enviros, congress, governor, local
  officials and local landowners
• briefed navy and airforce which train next to
  refuge
• focused on hunters and trappers at public
  meetings prior to release
• 10(j) status
• Post-release press
• 22 mags, 24 newspapers, 5 national news
  broadcasts, 4 documentaries
• New landowner agreements

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Humans Benefited From Release

• Post-release press increased tourism
• Portrayed the region as unaffected by increase in
  human population where natural resources are
  still thriving
• helped attract recreation

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Other Spinoffs

• Additional land for conservation
• Conservation Fund bought 47,000 ha next to ARNWR
• 33 private citizens donated 10,000 ha to the
  project
• Civic groups got involved
• Rotary Club gave conservation internships

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Not So Good in Smokies

• 1990 reintroductions began in Great Smoky
  Mountains National Park
• 500,000 acre park (NC and Tenn)
• 1.5 mill acres of national forest adjoining with
  inholdings
• 37 wolves released
• many strayed from park and were recaptured
• like beef--7,900 paid for 24 cows killed
• liked people (taking handouts from tourists)
• 6 killed by cars, poison, shooting
• 33 pups born
• 4 survived through 1998

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Lack of Food Important

• Movements out of park were apparently in response
  to lack of big game
• Parvovirus also got some pups
• 4 remaining animals (2 adults and 2 pups) were
  removed

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Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Sites

• 5 release areas in Apache National Forest
• Soft releases of family groups
• Various degree of switch to natural prey
• Vehicles are mortality source as is shooting
• Ranch dogs and livestock have been injured or
  killed
• Defenders paid full market value

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Mexican Wolves

• Captive propagation for release
• First releases March 29-30 1998 (New Mexico and
  Arizona) on NWR and USFS lands
• Recent info from Arizona Game and Fish
• Public not happy
• New Mexico cattle growers have sued
• Mortalities from autos and shooting
• 5 of first 11 released were shot
• 2005 Recovery Planning on hold, reintroductions
  continue

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Perseverance is the Key

• Babbitt was committed
• release is to send a message that this is
  public land..Americans support this effortIve
  got my instructions from the American people
• As of Oct 12, 2006
• 26 wolves in 9 packs reproducing in AZ and NM
• 300 in captivity (including wolf haven)

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Flexible Releases

• Lightweight pens
• take into backcountry
• electrify soft mesh
• soft releases will continue to be used
• little room for error

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Reducing Wolf Encounters with Lifestock (M.
Jimenez (PhD work)

• Trials with Montanas Ninemile Pack
• Cracker shells
• very short term deterrence
• Country Music
• music played at night by a crippled cow--kept
  wolves away
• Flags
• flags on fences keep wolves out
• Guard Donkeys
• burros with cattle--increase aggressiveness of
  the prey
• worked with coyotes

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Grizzly Tales

• New Concern for Yellowstone Griz (Kaiser 1999)
• USFWS proposes delisting
• Conflict over assessing the rate of population
  growth
• Pease and Mattson 1999--1 per year increase
• NPS 5 per year increase
• 1800---100,000 bears 1975--lt1000 2004---580
• PVA to incorporate many factors including
  shooting of problem bears shows low increase
• NPS and others dispute PVA!
• Whitebark pine may be key--drop lately due to
  blister rust

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Grizzly Reintroduction?

• USFWS proposes reintroduction into Northern
  Rockies
• would use 10(j) status
• Good support in Montana, not so in Idaho
• Bringing back bears is nothing but a polite form
  of genocide L. Barrett, Idaho State Rep.
• Im less scared of grizzlies than I am of the
  Endangered Species Act D. Burtenshaw, Idaho
  State Senate

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Threatened Lynx?

• Listed as threatened in 2004
• As of 2006, recovery outline completed
• Interim, no authority, guidelines

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Lynx Reintroduction Stats

• Reintroduction occurring in Colorado
• winter 1999--11 Lynx brought to San Juans from
  Canada
• hard release
• plan for 110 to be released over next 2 years
• cost 1.4 million (for first 3 years)
• Initial Poor Success was questioned
• 2 of first 5 died of starvation
• Latest reintroductions went well
• 2006 42 females are surviving and 11 kittens
  were born in wild in 2005

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Whooping Cranes

• Early efforts in western US
• 1975--early 1990s whoopers cross fostered under
  Sandhill Cranes
• Migrated and survived ok, but no breeding
• 1992--cross fostered whooper bred with a female
  sandhill
• 1993--cross fostered group down to 8 from high of
  30 in 1980
• Guide-bird program initiated
• incubate and hatch in captivity
• house chicks with cross fostered whoopers held in
  cages on breeding grounds
• bond with whoopers to learn migration route
• imprint on whoopers to learn sexual preference
• 2005 efforts in west essentially halted

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Changing Focus to Eastern US

• Use of ultralights and direct reintroduction to
  re-establish the eastern flyway population of
  Whooping Cranes
• Population is growing
• 5 young in 2002
• 64 in 2006
• 2005 saw first breeding
• 2006 first migration on
• own by cranes initially
• led by ultralight

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Bringing Back Condors

• Down to 27 in captivity with capture of last wild
  bird in 1987, but brought back to 289 in 2006
  with 135 in the wild
• Breeding in California and Arizona
• Still issues with learning to live with people
• Powerlines
• Lead
• Lack of fear in released birds

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Bald Eagle Recovery

• Population increased
• removal of limiting factor (DDE)
• captive breeding and reintroduction
• Costs in top 10 of all bird conservation efforts

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References

• Phillips, M. K. 1990a. The red wolf recovery of
  an endangered species. Endangered Species Update
  879-81.
• Phillips, M. K. 1990b. Measures of the value and
  success of a reintroduction project red wolf
  reintroduction in Alligator River National
  Wildlife Refuge. Endangered Species Update
  824-26.
• Kaiser, J. 1999. Study sounds alarm on
  Yellowstone Grizzlies. Science 284568.
• Davis, T. 1997. Agencies dunk endangered
  songbird. High Country News Sept. 15, 1997
• Drewien, R. C. 1993. Guide bird program holds
  promise for whoopers. Habitat.

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More References

• Borenstein, S. 1999. The bald eagle to be taken
  off endangered list. Seattle Times. June 17,
  1999.
• Weller, R. 1999. Lynx reintroduced to Colorado.
  Seattle Times February 4, 1999.
• London, J. 1996. Red Wolf Country. Penguin Books,
  New York.
• Miller, E. 1997. Salmon says no bears, no way.
  High Country News. October 27, 1997