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
Red Wolves
 1970’s few wolves left in Texas and
Louisiana
 All that could be found (N = 17) were
captured by late 1970’s 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
Red Wolf Reintroduction Areas
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
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
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--->19 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
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
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
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
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
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
Mexican Wolf Reintroduction
Sites
 5 release areas in Apache
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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
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
Perseverance is the Key
 Babbitt was committed
– “release … is to send a message that this is
public land…..Americans support this
effort…I’ve 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)
Flexible Releases
 Lightweight pens
– take into backcountry
– electrify soft mesh
– soft releases will continue to be used
• little room for error
Reducing Wolf Encounters with
Lifestock (M. Jimenez (PhD work)
 Trials with Montana’s 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
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--<1000; 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
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.
– “I’m less scared of grizzlies than I am of the
Endangered Species Act” D. Burtenshaw, Idaho
State Senate
Threatened Lynx?
 Listed as
threatened in
2004
 As of 2006,
recovery outline
completed
– Interim, no
authority,
guidelines
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
Whooping Cranes
 Early efforts in western US
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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
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
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
Bald Eagle Recovery
 Population
increased
– removal of limiting
factor (DDE)
– captive breeding
and reintroduction
 Costs in top 10 of
all bird
conservation efforts
References
 Phillips, M. K. 1990a. The red wolf: recovery of an
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endangered species. Endangered Species Update 8:79-81.
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 8:24-26.
Kaiser, J. 1999. Study sounds alarm on Yellowstone
Grizzlies. Science 284:568.
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.
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