Wildlife managers in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem have documented a previously underestimated pattern of natural mortality among adult grizzly bears. Research indicates that wolves, mountain
Wildlife managers in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem have documented a previously underestimated pattern of natural mortality among adult grizzly bears. Research indicates that wolves, mountain lions, and other grizzlies are killing adult bears more often than the models used to manage the population had accounted for, and a small number of deaths remain unexplained.The grizzly population in Yel…
Wildlife and agricultural agencies in North Texas report a rising number of complaints about feral hogs, and officials say the situation is likely to worsen before improving. Residents in Montgomery
Wildlife and agricultural agencies in North Texas report a rising number of complaints about feral hogs, and officials say the situation is likely to worsen before improving. Residents in Montgomery County describe thousands of dollars in property damage, with some saying they have stopped repairing their yards because the hogs return each night.In Blanco County, Texas, routine camera footage capt…
Wildlife researchers in southern Florida faced an unexplained problem in the early 2000s: adult American crocodiles were disappearing from the mangrove channels where they had lived for years. These
Wildlife researchers in southern Florida faced an unexplained problem in the early 2000s: adult American crocodiles were disappearing from the mangrove channels where they had lived for years. These were not young or marginal animals. They were dominant individuals that occupied the best territories in the region, and boat captains who had worked the same waters for two decades could identify them…
Wildlife officials placed 76 fake beaver dams across a dying river, hoping to trick nature into restoring itself. The structures slowed the water and raised its level, which should have worked.
In 2009, a restoration project in eastern Oregon installed 76 simple wooden structures along a degraded stretch of Bridge Creek, a tributary of the John Day River. The goal was modest: provide a foothold for the beavers already living there so they could do the work they were already attempting. The project cost $374,000 and introduced no new animals.The creek had been in decline for decades. By t…
Wildlife officials dropped 240 beavers into dying Pacific Northwest streams—and the ecosystem response was anything but expected. The rodents were meant to restore degraded waterways, rebuilding dams that had vanished for a century.
In the mountains of Washington state, biologists have spent more than a decade moving beavers into streams that were losing water. The animals, once considered pests, have rebuilt wetlands, stored millions of gallons of water, cooled rivers for salmon, and created natural firebreaks across dry landscapes.The work began in 2007 in the Methow Valley, where streams feeding the Eastern Cascade Mountai…