EAST LAKE, N.C. - There are plenty of deer, wild turkey and other game species in eastern North Carolina's red wolf recovery area, according to new research.

Wildlife scientists say while red wolves coexist with other game species, there's more work to do to build up their population, so they have a better chance of survival.

North Carolina is the only place in the world where red wolves exist in the wild. Chief Scientist at Wildlands Network Ron Sutherland has monitored the wolves and other wildlife since 2015 with motion-sensitive trail cameras in the recovery area.

Some local landowners believe red wolves are depleting game animals, but Sutherland said that doesn't appear to be the case.

"The fears that the red wolf is causing a wildlife disaster were just grossly inaccurate and misplaced," said Sutherland. "And people just need to relax about the wolves; they're part of the native ecosystem."

He said in addition to deer and turkey, the cameras captured plenty of quail, bears and other wildlife.

Three decades ago, a small group of captive-bred red wolves were released into the state's Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. The number of wild red wolves peaked in the mid-2000s to more than 100, but has taken a steady nosedive and is as few as 20.

Joseph Hinton, a postdoctoral researcher at Michigan Technological University, studies coyote populations in the Southeast. He said red wolves' territorial nature keeps coyotes away from areas they inhabit.

"Because there's enough coyotes everywhere that, when you create these holes, they just fill them in," said Hinton. "And with wolves, we don't have enough wolves to replace those dead wolves."

Sutherland added the presence of red wolves contributes to a healthy and thriving biodiverse landscape.

"Having the wolves helps protect the forest," said Sutherland. "And they also help control populations of things like mesopredators, which is a fancy word for medium-sized carnivores, like raccoons and possums."

Earlier this year, a small number of red wolves was released into the recovery area after conservation groups won a federal court ruling. They'd called on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to speed up its plan to release more captive wolves into the wild.

Updated Thursday, June 17 at 1:00 MT to reflect estimated red wolf population, and red wolf impact on coyote range.

Teams of researchers and volunteers will fan out at dawn Friday with their smartphones and binoculars on the Florida Gulf Coast University campus for a 24-hour biological scavenger hunt, known as "BioBlitz."

The annual event comes as new research shows Florida's natural habitats are disappearing at unprecedented rates, with Southwest Florida among the regions most affected. The fifth annual event builds on last year's discovery of 144 species, including the rare two-striped forktail dragonfly and confirmed river otter activity on campus wetlands.

Mercedes Rasler, a senior biology student at the university, hopes to focus her camera to capture another circling osprey, one of the region's most visible raptors.

"We see a lot of ospreys, a lot of red-shouldered hawks, those are kind of our cool raptors," Rasler reported. "In terms of other species, we've got northern mockingbirds, we've got grackles, blue jays, lots of iconic species, but then also some species that people may not know right away."

This year, participants equipped with the iNaturalist app aim to surpass previous records while contributing to a global database supporting conservation efforts. Anyone, regardless of location, can participate by downloading the app and documenting species in their own area.

Oscar Johnson, assistant professor of ornithology at the university, explained the scientific value of BioBlitz, through its not-so-secret goal of empowering "citizen science" to document biodiversity.

"It's a combination of an event where we can get a lot of people outside and looking at nature, learning about nature, looking at cool bugs, birds, mammals, plants, anything that we can find that's living," Johnson outlined. "Learn about identification, natural history."

The event aligns with similar conservation efforts at other Florida schools and organizations. With ongoing budget constraints and staffing reductions across wildlife agencies, state officials said volunteer-collected data now play an increasingly important role in species monitoring efforts.

Wildlife conservationists are working with landowners and concerned Texans to recover at-risk species.

Currently, more than 1,100 animals from salamanders to mountain lions to birds need protection. Grahame Jones, executive director of the Texas Conservation Alliance, said the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is at the forefront of the work, and added that the agency created a comprehensive program to save the near threatened Guadalupe bass "through stockings in different rivers and creeks, restoration projects in watersheds and rivers, and then the management of invasive plants and how that might affect the rivers. And then also bringing in the public to help them."

The department is updating its Wildlife Action Plan that helps manage and conserve various species to keep them off the threatened and endangered lists. A survey is on the department's website.

The Parks and Wildlife Department is also working to save the threatened Texas horned lizard, or horny toad. John DeFillipo, regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation, said the agency is partnering with landowners to help repopulate the reptile.

"So, they will release these small horny toads on their property and also the work, which is unique on the horny toads, they coordinated with zoos across the state, and they raised them and released about 1,000 hatchlings," he said. "And then these hatchlings, since they're so young, they're able to produce in the wild."

Jones added that it's easier to keep population numbers up than it is try to recover a species.

"Once they get on a threatened list or endangered species list, the rules change and it's more expensive and there's all sorts of caveats and issues that come up," he said."So the goal is to keep these species off those lists."

Wyoming's practice of feeding elk over winters is a century old but the spread of disease has increased concerns. Now, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition is rolling out a new solution.

The group launched a voluntary program in 2019, incentivizing ranchers who live near elk feedgrounds to ship their cattle elsewhere during winters, allowing elk to roam on their native winter range instead.

It keeps cattle and elk from commingling, which can lead to the spread of dangerous diseases such as brucellosis and Chronic Wasting Disease.

Teddy Collins, Wyoming conservation associate for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said the program is beneficial to the elk and cattle ranchers.

"It is very timely to have these agreements as a tool in the toolbox for state wildlife officials to try and move away from this process that has been around for a hundred years, but has negative repercussions," Collins emphasized.

Collins noted Chronic Wasting Disease was detected in four of the state's 21 feedgrounds this winter. A rancher in Lincoln County signed on in the fall, adding to the two agreements Teton County ranchers have signed since 2019.

The agreements are tailored to each rancher. Generally, cattle leave the property for more temperate areas of Wyoming or Utah from around Dec. 1 to April 1. The Greater Yellowstone Coalition shares associated costs with producers.

"These are voluntary agreements and they are incentive-based," Collins explained. "Each agreement is unique to the needs and the topography and the business of the individual producer."

Producers are, he added, "quite satisfied" with the program so far.


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