Defenders of Wildlife Blog

by Alex Slippen

Our nation has long been thought of as a “melting pot” of different human races living side by side. But humans and wildlife need to live side by side too. They need to coexist.

And although this necessary coexistence can lead to conflict, there are good faith actors out there trying to make it work. And Defenders is helping to lead the way.

Over the years, Defenders has worked with numerous collaborators and experts to prevent and mitigate conflicts between humans and wildlife, particularly with predator species such as wolves, grizzly bears and panthers. Recently, Defenders hosted a policy forum in Washington, D.C. on the topic of coexistence to bring many of these partners together.

Opening remarks were delivered by Defenders president Jamie Rappaport Clark, who stressed that peaceful coexistence should be the new norm when it comes to living with predators, not the exception. And she praised the forum panelists for their pioneering work in making that happen.

Wolves are one of many animals that depend on coexistence efforts like those discussed during this forum.

Following a brief video produced by Defenders on helping people coexist with wildlife, a diverse panel of four experts from various fields and locations took turns discussing their coexistence work.

First up was Lawrence Schoen, a board member of the Blaine County Commission in south central Idaho. Schoen spoke about his involvement in Defenders’ Wood River Wolf Project, which uses a combination of deterrents and good old-fashioned foresight to keep nearby sheep separated from wolves in the area.

He was followed by Nick Wiley, executive director of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, who spoke of his experiences with coexistence projects in Florida as “proactive, adaptive solutions” to human-panther conflicts.

Next up was Nancy Gloman, vice president of field conservation for Defenders of Wildlife, who reiterated the organization’s long-term vision of human populations as tolerant, appreciative and accepting of the wildlife around them.

And closing out the panel was David White, chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (a section of the U.S. Department of Agriculture), who tied all the panelists remarks together by discussing coexistence efforts at the federal level. Some of NRCS’ landscape conservation initiatives include the protection of the sage grouse in key agriculture areas.

Defenders is committed to a collaborative approach to living with wildlife, and the variety of different perspectives that comes from experts like these panelists will go a long way towards bridging the gap between humans and wildlife.

A herder and his dogs keep their eyes on a flock of sheep in central Idaho's Wood River Valley.

Just in time for Earth Day, Defenders announced today that it spent over $300,000 in 2011 to help ranchers and communities coexist with wildlife and maintain a healthy environment.

Through our Wildlife Coexistence Partnership program, Defenders implemented or provided incentives for more than 100 projects in nine states across the country, including Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming, as well as Mexico. Projects included hiring range riders, creating buffer zones for prairie dogs, paying for electric fencing, purchasing bear-proof food lockers and dumpsters, purchasing trail cameras to document panther activity and compensating ranchers for lost livestock. These projects benefited prairie dogs, bison, gray wolves, grizzly bears, jaguars, polar bears, Florida panthers and Florida black bears.

“The nonlethal tools that we’re testing in places like Idaho, Oregon and Montana are showing that people really can share the landscape with wolves with a little extra effort,” says Suzanne Stone, Defenders Northern Rockies representative in Boise, Idaho. “Fladry, guard dogs, range riders—these basic deterrents have all proven effective when they’re given a chance. We’ve demonstrated that losses to wolves can be dropped to near zero levels if appropriate, proactive steps are taken to prevent conflict. Ranchers are able to safeguard their livestock while helping to maintain healthy populations of native wildlife.”

A relocation project at Thunder Basin National Grassland in eastern Wyoming has helped save prairie dogs from shooting and poisoning.. Photo by Lacy Gray.

“We recognize that living in areas with grizzly bears or roaming bison isn’t always easy. That’s why we’re investing in projects that benefit people and wildlife,” says Jonathan Proctor, Defenders Rocky Mountain representative in Missoula, Montana. “For example, we helped pay for dozens of projects to keep grizzly bears out of chicken coops, beehives, and trash, primarily by installing electric fencing. These methods work and can prevent conflict with minimal upfront cost to individual property owners.”

“By working together, we are able to bring imperiled wildlife back from the brink of extinction and ease the burden on livestock owners and ranchers,” says Craig Miller, Defenders Southwest representative in Tucson, Arizona. “Our coexistence projects offer a bright future for rare and unique wildlife such as wolves and jaguars and also for ranchers and landowners who are taking steps to help make that possible.”

“The Florida panther’s downward spiral toward extinction has been reversed in recent years and the number of cats has been growing. But for the population to continue to recover, it’s essential the endangered cats avoid conflicts with ranchers and livestock as well as pets and farm animals,” says Laurie Macdonald, Defenders Florida director in St. Petersburg. “By exploring coexistence, compensation and incentive programs that work for both panthers and property owners, we can find effective, long-term solutions that protect the big cats and preserve the Florida rancher’s way of life.”

Click to see a larger map of our 2011 Wildlife Coexistnece Partnership projects.

2011 Totals

Minimum number of proactive projects and incentives by region:

• Northern Rockies – 60
• Southwest and Mexico – 20
• Southeast (Florida) – 21
• Great Plains (Kansas & Wyoming) – 3

Number of compensation payments by region:

• Northern Rockies – 38
• Southwest and Mexico – 2

Minimum number of projects and incentives by species:

• Wolf – 34
• Grizzly bear – 39
• Prairie dog – 3
• Bison – 5
• Jaguar – 2
• Florida panther – 10
• Florida black bear – 11

Number of compensation payments by species:

• Grizzly bear – 31
• Wolf – 9

This Florida panther was caught on camera as part of a monitoring study.

Minimum amount spent on various project and incentive types:

• Fladry –$20,497
• Range riders – $65,960
• Technical field assistance, workshops and information – $126,509
• Compensation for livestock depredation – $56,650
• Dumpsters, garbage bins and food lockers – $17,483
• Fencing and buffers – $18,650

Read our full press release.

One man’s trash is a Florida black bear’s treasure. And unless you take action to keep your garbage out of reach, you could play host to one of these furry foragers over and over again. Fortunately, Defenders is on the job. As part of our efforts to help Sunshine State residents live safely in bear country, we provide support for placing bear-proof dumpsters in locations around the state. Watch this video to learn more about our dumpster project in De Leon Springs State Park–and the instant results it saw–from Defenders’ Laurie Macdonald and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Mike Orlando.

Photo courtesy Allen Loyd.

13th Annual Black Bear Festival a Success

Last month, Defenders staff and our 12 volunteers were proud to host the 13th Annual Black Bear Festival in Umatilla, Florida, the “Gateway to the Ocala National Forest” and prime black bear country. With live music, good food, arts and crafts and field trips to the Ocala National Forest and Black Bear Scenic Highway, it was a day of family fun but also education for the nearly three thousand Sunshine State residents who attended on how to live peacefully alongside a rebounding bear population. To the right, Defenders’ Shannon Miller demonstrates how to build a livestock enclosure to help protect hobby livestock and pets from predators such as black bears.

Bears Get Love in Alaska, Too!

Since many of Alaska’s bears emerge from dens in early spring, April was the ideal time for Governor Sean to declare “Bear Awareness Month” throughout the Last Frontier. The move is an effort to “encourage all Alaskans to educate themselves on the importance of awareness and safety issues surrounding Alaska’s bears and wildlife, thereby helping to ensure the future of our Alaskan wildlife heritage.”

The number of endangered Mexican gray wolves living in the wild increased in 2011.

BREAKING: The number of endangered Mexican wolves, or lobos, in Arizona and New Mexico increased last year to 58 wolves and six breeding pairs, up from 50 wolves and two breeding pairs in 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today.

The small boost is big news around here. Mexican wolves are the most endangered subspecies of gray wolf in North America.

To get a better idea of what this means for the lobo’s recovery, I sat down for an in-depth Q&A with Defenders’ Southwest program director, Eva Sargent.

If you just want the highlights, check out our press release.

Q: So what exactly is the annual population count?

Eva: In January each year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) takes to the skies over the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area spanning more than four million acres in Arizona and New Mexico to count how many wolves are living in the wild. They use an airplane to locate signals from the wolves with telemetry collars, and then radio in a helicopter to take a closer look. The helicopter crew’s job is to count all the wolves found near the collared wolf. The airplane and helicopter also survey areas without collared wolves, searching for lobos that could have set out to claim new territory, find a mate or start a pack. Wildlife officials use this information along with wolves tallied during ground surveys in November and December to come up with a final count.

Q: Why do you think lobo numbers are on the rise?  

Red flags, called fladry, tied to fences help keep wolves away from livestock.

Eva: We are seeing the pay off of years of hard work by Defenders and others. In 2009, Defenders settled an important court case with the Fish and Wildlife Service that ended the notorious “three strikes” policy, which removed far too many wolves from the wild. Even genetically important wolves, and those with dependent pups, were removed. Under those conditions, it was difficult for the population to grow. Since the settlement, only one wolf has been removed. Fewer removals and more Wolf Coexistence Partnerships have helped Mexican wolves survive. Our coexistence program works directly with ranchers to lower conflict between livestock and lobos. We do things like help ranchers hire more cowboys to watch over cattle, fund special fencing or fladry (flags that wolves avoid), move livestock away from den sites – techniques that are proven to work. We’ve had growing interest from ranchers in the last few years, and the FWS, Arizona Game and Fish Department and others are placing a greater emphasis on coexistence projects.  

Q: Is this increase typical or should lobos be doing better?

The Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area spans across more than four million acres of wild lands.

Eva: We expected to have 100 wolves and 18 breeding pairs by 2006. Instead, due to excessive removals and ongoing poaching by wolf-haters, the population has never climbed above 59 and stagnated for many years around 50. Wolves are resilient. Given enough game and a chance to find a mate, they will expand into good habitat and the population will grow until it reaches a healthy balance with available prey. The most important thing that we can do to help out now is to release more wolves. There are wolves waiting right now, eligible for release in both Arizona and New Mexico, and the FWS needs to get on the ball and let them go. Some of these wolves have even been specially conditioned to avoid cattle, and we need to get them out there and see if this conditioning method makes a difference. In addition to releasing more wolves, the FWS needs to change its outdated policy that doesn’t allow wolves direct from captivity to be released in New Mexico. The service has been sitting on the paperwork for this policy change for years.

Q: What are some challenges to recovery?

Eva: The challenges are almost all political or social. We have Congressman Pearce in New Mexico repeatedly trying to defund the program, and we have a lack of resolve to release more wolves. We are also waiting for a new recovery plan, although good progress is being made…

The first step to overcoming some of these obstacles is to take a rigorous scientific look at what Mexican wolves need to survive into the future. How many wolves are needed? How many different populations? How will the populations be connected, and where are the best places for wolves–the places with enough prey and not too many roads or too many people?

Q: What more needs to be done to help bring lobos back from the brink?

Eva: While all of the above is being figured out, we will continue to build tolerance and coexistence. We also need more wolves to be released. This is urgent. Our one small population is extremely vulnerable to disasters like the Wallow Fire, to inbreeding, to slipping back toward extinction.

Mexican gray wolf numbers were up in 2011.

TUCSON, Ariz.—The number of endangered Mexican gray wolves surviving in the southwestern United States increased in 2011 to 58 wolves and six breeding pairs up from 50 wolves and two breeding pairs the year before, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today.

But Defenders of Wildlife is urging Arizona state and federal wildlife officials to release new wolves into the wild to strengthen the population — cautioning that despite the increase, the small population is still at risk and needs a deeper gene pool.

“While the increase comes as good news for these highly endangered animals, the small population of 58 lobos is still extremely vulnerable,” said Eva Sargent, Defenders’ Southwest program director. “Wolves are smart, adaptable animals, but they can’t make it alone. New releases of wolves in Arizona and New Mexico are urgently needed to ensure a healthy population.”

Wolves are smart, adaptable animals, but they can’t make it alone. — Eva Sargent, Southwest program director

The boost signals, however, that a new emphasis on partnerships between the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Arizona Game and Fish Department and ranchers is helping livestock and lobos better coexist. Techniques such as portable fencing, watchdogs, funding for cowboys and compensation for livestock lost to wolves are working to keep more wolves on the ground.

A federal wildlife agent demonstrates how to set up fladry.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must build on this momentum, moving forward with several releases that were planned for 2011, but never happened,” Sargent added. “There are wolves eligible for release in Arizona and New Mexico right now, and they are desperately needed. Some of these wolves have been specially conditioned to avoid preying on cattle and deserve a chance at life in the wild.”

By Glen Gardner, Public News Service

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A new study in Florida is aimed at helping determine the best ways for cattle and panthers to coexist.

The endangered Florida panther has made an amazing comeback. Once only 20 remained, but now the population is estimated at 100 to 160. However, finding a place for all those panthers to live without conflict is getting more difficult.

Last year, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission began receiving reports of the cats preying on calves, beyond their natural prey of deer, wild hogs and other native game. The University of Florida, with support from Defenders of Wildlife, is studying the situation in an effort to find solutions.

Caitlin Jacobs, a graduate student and researcher at the university, says radio tags on calves and motion-detecting cameras are being employed to help get answers.

“We have them placed around the study areas to try and capture pictures of panthers – for one, to show how much panther activity there is on these ranches.”

The two-year study is focusing on two ranches in southwest Florida where the goal is to determine the extent to which predators, in particular the Florida panther, are responsible for calf mortality.

The research, Jacobs says, should answer a number of questions about how the calves are dying and about how many panthers may have developed a taste for calves.

“Is there one cat that has learned that calves are easy prey?”

A Florida panther caught on one of the 15 trail cameras donated by Defenders to assist with the research on two ranches. Paw prints were found at the site the next day.

Liesa Priddy, owner of J-B Ranch in Immokalee and one of the ranchers participating in the study, says having good information is key to coming up with a plan to balance the panthers’ habitat needs with ranchers’ concerns.

“Only with that solid information, having everybody on board in agreement with what the problem is, are you going to be able to address it and come up with a solution.”

Twenty-four panthers died in 2011, which is tied as the most deadly year with 2003 and 2009.

Learn more:

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Already, 2012 has seen the death of one male panther, who was killed by a vehicle while crossing the road. Read about Defenders’ work to make roads safer for Florida panthers.