Agricultural News
Aerial Survey Finds Higher-Than-Expected Prairie-Chicken Population
Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:59:57 CDT
A multi-state collaborative effort finds a higher-than-expected lesser prairie chicken population, according to the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies' Grassland Initiative.
The Grassland Initiative and the Lesser Prairie Chicken Interstate Working Group, composed of biologists from state fish and wildlife departments in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma, the Bureau of Land Management and West Ecosystems Inc. of Laramie, Wyo., conducted a large-scale, helicopter-based survey of lesser prairie chicken leks across all five states from March to May, encompassing more than 300,000 square miles, and estimate just over 37,000 birds. The count showed the birds are thriving in northern areas, but declining where their range traditionally had been to the south on the Texas/New Mexico border in Andrews and Gaines counties.
The population estimate will be included in a plan being developed by five state wildlife agencies that is expected to be completed by next March and could influence the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision whether to designate the lesser prairie chicken as a federally threatened or endangered species.
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