Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Kentucky: Illegal Deer Leads to Drug Charges

Marion County man arrested following investigation by conservation officers

 

FRANKFORT, KY  — The report of a deer fawn being kept illegally led to drug charges against a man and his mother in Marion County.
On Monday, June 11, conservation officers with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources charged 26-year-old Matt White, of Lebanon, Ky., with holding protected wildlife and one count of cultivation of five or more marijuana plants.
Officers also charged White’s mother, 59-year-old Lebanon resident Mary Colvin, with driving under the influence, possession of marijuana and having an open container of alcohol in her vehicle. Colvin arrived at the scene while officers were obtaining a search warrant for White’s residence on McElroy Pike.
Conservation officers were called to the residence after receiving a report of a captive deer fawn. In Kentucky, it is illegal for the public to keep a deer fawn.

Read more

Poachers, Wildlife

Michigan DNR Upper Peninsula wolf survey shows healthy wolf population

Michigan Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division officials said Thursday the state’s wolf population has remained relatively stable over the past four wolf surveys, the most recent of which occurred this past winter.

DNR wildlife biologists estimate there was a minimum of 662 wolves found among 139 packs across the Upper Peninsula this past winter. The 2016 minimum population estimate was 618 wolves.

“Based on our latest minimum population estimate, it is clear wolf numbers in Michigan remain viable and robust,” said Russ Mason, chief of the DNR’s wildlife division. “A similar trend is apparent in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The western Great Lakes states’ wolf population is thriving and has recovered.”

Fifteen more wolf packs were found during this past winter’s survey than in 2016, but pack size has decreased slightly and now averages less than five wolves.

The survey was conducted from December through April, before wolves had produced pups, and when the population is at its lowest point in the annual cycle.

“As the wolf population in the Upper Peninsula has grown and spread out across the region, packs are situated closer together,” said Dean Beyer, a DNR wildlife research biologist who organizes the sampling and generates the wolf population estimate for the biannual survey. “This makes it harder to determine which pack made the tracks that were observed in adjacent areas.

“Movement information we collect from GPS-collared wolves helps us interpret the track count results, because these data allow us to identify territorial boundaries. The minimum population estimate we generate is a conservative estimate, which takes these factors into account.”

The wolf survey is completed by DNR Wildlife Division and U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services staff who search specific survey areas for wolf tracks and other signs of wolf activity, such as territorial marking or indications of breeding.

In 2017-2018, approximately 63 percent of the Upper Peninsula was surveyed.

After wolves returned naturally to the U.P. through migration from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ontario in the 1980s, the population rebounded remarkably over time. The pronounced long-term increase in wolf abundance is evident, despite human cause-specific mortality, such as poaching.

However, over the past few years, Michigan’s minimum estimate has hovered between 600 and 700 wolves, which could be indicative of a stabilizing population.

“Research suggests prey availability and the geographical area of the U.P. are the key limiting factors of wolf population expansion,” said Kevin Swanson, a wildlife management specialist with the DNR’s Bear and Wolf Program in Marquette. “This is proving to be true.”

Since the winter of 1993-94, combined wolf numbers in Michigan and Wisconsin have surpassed 100, meeting federally established goals for population recovery.  The Michigan recovery goal of a minimum sustainable population of 200 wolves for five consecutive years was achieved in 2004.

Wolves in Michigan remain a federally-protected species which may only be killed legally in defense of human life.

Wildlife

Auburn University Offers New Degree in Wildlife Enterprise Management

By Charles Martin

Contacts: Jamie Anderson, School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, 334-844-9248,jla0015@auburn.edu; or Preston Sparks, Office of Communications and Marketing, 334-844-9999, pjs0027@auburn.edu

Hunting or fishing for a new degree?

Auburn University’s new degree in wildlife enterprise management to equip students for careers in outdoor industries

AUBURN Ala. – Students who enjoy the outdoors will want to explore Auburn University’s new degree program that provides the education and skills needed for a variety of careers in hunting and fishing industries.

“The degree will help develop Auburn students as future leaders in outdoor enterprises nationally and internationally,” Auburn President Steven Leath said.

Auburn’s Board of Trustees approved the new wildlife enterprise management degree at its June 8 meeting. Official enrollment will begin in fall 2019 pending approval by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education this December.

Students will take classes across the Auburn campus, primarily in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, College of Human Sciences and the Harbert College of Business. Courses will include wildlife management, hotel and restaurant management, accounting and marketing, to name a few. In addition to earning the new bachelor’s degree, students will earn a minor in business.

“Graduates will hit the ground running with lodges, hunting preserves, fishing resorts, outdoor experience companies and many other types of consumptive-use businesses,” said Dean Janaki Alavalapati, dean of the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. Read more

Wildlife

CWD is Cause for Aggressive Action in Michigan

By Glen Wunderlich

After months of talking with citizens and hunting and wildlife stakeholders and reviewing the best available science regarding chronic wasting disease (CWD), the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will present CWD recommendations to the Natural Resources Commission at its next monthly meeting Thursday, June 14, in Lansing as a means to begin aggressive measures to contain or slow the pace of growth of the fatal disease.

The department’s recommendations are the result of a six-month-long public engagement effort, during which DNR staff and NRC members met with people around the state, hosted 11 public meetings, and offered online survey and comment opportunities. The recommendations are being presented for information to the commission, as part of the public input process.

In a lengthy memo from the DNR the sad facts and cause for drastic action based on the Michigan’s Surveillance and Response Plan for Chronic Wasting Disease of Free-Ranging and Privately-Owned Cervids follows in abbreviated fashion:

 

·        Since the finding of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in a free-ranging white-tailed deer in Michigan on May 20, 2015, CWD-positive deer have been found in Clinton, Ingham, Ionia, Kent, and Montcalm counties. As of mid-January 2018, after testing approximately 30,600 free-ranging deer, 57 were positively confirmed with CWD, with 48 occurring during the 2017 deer hunting season.  In addition, two Privately-Owned Cervid (POC) facilities in Mecosta County were positively confirmed with CWD in 2017. 

·        The DNR recommends restricting the possession and use of non-synthetic cervid urine-based lures and attractants while hunting or trapping game species.  Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Pennsylvania (within CWD areas), Vermont, and Virginia have banned the use of urine-based lures or attractants. 

·        The DNR recommends instituting a baiting and feeding ban effective January 31, 2019, for the entire Lower Peninsula. A delayed implementation provides opportunity for those with economic interests to shift business models for next year.  However, The Department recommends granting a baiting exception for qualified hunters with disabilities outside of the 13-County CWD Management Zone and Bovine Tuberculosis (TB) Management Zone (Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency, and Oscoda counties) during the Liberty and Independence Hunts.  The DNR recommends instituting a baiting and feeding ban effective immediately for the 13-County CWD Management Zone.

·        The DNR recommends providing public and private land antlerless licenses for individual DMUs located in the 13-County CWD Management Zone that will be valid for the entire season. 

·        To provide an early firearm opportunity to harvest antlerless deer, the DNR recommends an early antlerless season for all hunters for antlerless deer on private land in the 13-County CWD Management Zone for a total of four days starting the Thursday prior to the second Saturday in October and for three days thereafter. The season will occur October 11 through October 14 for the 2018 hunting season.

·        To expand opportunity in existing seasons, the DNR recommends opening opportunities to more hunters in the muzzleloader season by allowing centerfire firearms, thus making in effect a second firearms season.  All firearms that are legal during the firearms season for that respective zone will be legal during the muzzleloader season. 

·        The Director may authorize a disease management hunt, lasting no longer than nine days between January 2 and March 31 where additional harvest is deemed necessary.

·        The Department recommends resuming the 4-point antler point restriction on the restricted tag of the deer combination license.

·        The DNR is recommending expansion of areas open to both the early and late antlerless seasons in the Northern Lower Peninsula (NLP) Region. Clare, Gladwin, Mason, and Osceola counties.

The NRC will review, discuss and possibly modify recommendations before making a final decision at a future commission meeting. Comments may be submitted to the commission via email at NRC@michigan.gov.

Hunting, Wildlife

Michigan DNR to present chronic wasting disease recommendations to Natural Resources Commission

After months of talking with interested citizens and hunting and wildlife stakeholders and reviewing the best available science regarding chronic wasting disease, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is set to presentCWD recommendations to the Natural Resources Commission at its next monthly meeting Thursday, June 14, in Lansing. Recommendations will be presented during Committee of the Whole.

The department’s recommendations are the result of a six-month-long public engagement effort, during which DNR staff and NRC members met with people around the state, hosted 11 public meetings, and offered online survey and comment opportunities. The recommendations are being presented for information to the commission, as part of the public input process.

The NRC will review, discuss and possibly modify recommendations before making a final decision at a future commission meeting. Comments may be submitted to the commission via email at NRC@michigan.gov. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

ICYMI: Committee on Natural Resources to Hold Hearing in Alpena to Discuss Impact of the Cormorant

The Committee on Natural Resources is leaving Capitol Hill for the day and coming to Northern Michigan, where they’ll hold an oversight hearing on the cormorant, an aquatic bird, next week.

The committee will be holding a field hearing in Alpena next Monday, June 11.

They recently introduced the Cormorant Control Act, which focuses on managing the species populations.

The bird has been raising concern within the fishing game industry in the Great Lakes.

The DNR has gotten rid of 10 percent of the birds in the past, partly by oiling their eggs to prevent them from hatching, but now lawmakers are trying to find ways to more properly manage the bird. Read more

Wildlife

Pesky forest tent caterpillars again are munching leaves on Michigan trees

Forest tent caterpillars are making a nuisance of themselves across Michigan, eating leaves from sugar maple, aspen and oak trees and leaving small strands of webbing as they go.

The insects, which are native to Michigan, occur in widespread outbreaks every 10 to 15 years. The most recent outbreaks peaked in 2002 and 2010. They’ve been spotted across the Lower Peninsula and in the eastern Upper Peninsula. Outbreaks usually last two or three years; this is the second or third year for outbreaks in some areas.

An infestation of forest tent caterpillars rarely is fatal unless a tree has other stresses, said Scott Lint, forest health specialist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Forest Resources Division. Read more

Wildlife

USDA Opens Limited CRP Enrollment Through August 17, High Demand Expected


Pheasants Forever pushing for more acres nationally, 2018 Farm Bill could provide relief

St. Paul, Minn. – June 5, 2018 – Reopened this week to the benefit of soil, water, and wildlife nationwide, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has resumed acceptance of applications for the continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for the first time in over a year. Eligible farmers, ranchers, and private landowners can sign-up at their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office between now and Aug. 17, 2018. Read more

Wildlife

They Cull Lions, Don’t They?

By Steve Scott

Editor’s Note: This feature first appeared in The Outfitters Wire (www.outfitterswire.com)

Remember Cecil the lion; the “iconic” lion shot by an American client of a professional hunter who didn’t have the requisite permit? The fallout was memorable:  from internet trolls to the Ricky Gervais’ and Jimmy Kimmel’s of the world condemned the hunter in particular and lion hunting in general as a barbaric act with no place in our modern society. And with the outcry of the masses, the Obama administration leapt into action, barring any further import of lions into the United States. It was a victory for the lions, right? Well, not exactly.

In what has come to be known as the “Cecil effect,” big-game hunting in Zimbabwe, especially for lions, has seen hunter’s numbers diminish to historic lows. And though a few lions from certain countries under certain conditions can be imported under new Trump administration rules, lion hunters are not exactly coming back in droves. The fear of capricious prosecution from a third-world government, or more likely, the fear of the social media equivalent of a tar and feathering has led to reluctant hunters and a dangerous lion overpopulation in one of Zimbabwe’s few quality wildlife areas, the Bubye Valley Conservancy. Because the lion’s numbers are skyrocketing due to lack of a sustainable hunting harvest, Bubye Valley Conservancy will likely have to cull at least 200 of the 500-plus apex predator’s roaming within its borders.

In a dramatic case of lions behaving…as lions, the big cats are taking a bite out of the populations of numerous species of antelope as well, including sable, kudu, and giraffe just to name a few. But it’s not only the antelope who suffer. Lesser predators such as leopard, cheetah, and the endangered wild dogs are finding it harder to make a living in the dwindling game fields.

Fortunately, there is a solution, but it is a harsh one; Nature’s solution. Lions will devour the ever decreasing herds of antelope to a point where there are so few game animals left, the hungry predators start killing domestic cattle, goats, dogs, indigenous people, you know, a sequel of The Ghost and the Darkness until eventually, mass die-offs of most species and then voila! No more lions. Oh a few will survive, but in such small numbers there will be time for the other species to rebound. It is Nature’s way. For in a world with 7.3 billion people and growing, wildlife has to pay its way. And since lions are no longer pulling their metaphoric conservation weight, 200 of their number are going to have to die anyway. Only this way, it is without the approximate $1,000,000 sustainable use hunting would have generated for the benefit of conservation. So congratulations to the anti-hunting lynch mob. You win and lions lose.

 

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife ,

Rattlesnake Safety Tips for Summer

Give snakes plenty of space

Rattlesnakes often strike fear in the hearts of people. But they shouldn’t. Knowing a little about the animal, and doing a few simple things — like keeping your distance and not harassing a snake — can go a long way to keeping you safe.

If you see a rattlesnake, give it plenty of space. And don’t harass it.

Kevin Wheeler, biologist with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, says rattlesnakes in Utah are on the move right now, looking for water and rodents after emerging from their dens in May.

Wheeler says the snakes will likely have to travel more to find food this year. “Drought conditions have reduced Utah’s rodent population,” he says, “so snakes will be roaming more, looking for rodents. Because the snakes will be active, there’s a greater chance you’ll see one in the wild this year.”

So, if you see a rattlesnake in the wild, what should you do? Read more

Wildlife
1 … 154 155 156 157 158 … 357