Passport to Texas

Endangered Ocelot

Ocelot Habitat Restoration Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

The endangered Ocelot once roamed many parts of Texas. But over the years, loss of their native thorn-scrub habitat has left only a handful of Ocelots in the Rio Grande Valley.

We need to restore their habitat as quickly as possible because they’re just really in dire need.

Dr. Sandra Rideout-Hanzak is a restoration ecologist at Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute.

The thornscrub is really unique and it’s highly diverse. We’re talking about small trees or large shrubs. They’re multi-stemmed so they’ve got lots of branches coming out very low to the ground. To humans it looks like this impassable jungle, but to Ocelots it’s just perfect.

Traditionally Ocelot habitat was left alone to restore itself. Now a new study is hoping to accelerate restoration efforts with woody plant seedlings.

We’ve kind of figured out how to replant these species of trees that become thornscrub. We have 700 seedlings that we’ve planted ourselves to see what we can do to get them to that multi-stemmed habitat where they’re growing in the right shape as quickly as possible.

The Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series and funds Ocelot research in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Whooping crane pair at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

Great Comeback for Whooping Cranes Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

The majestic Whooping Crane is the tallest bird in North America and has a wingspan of seven and a half feet. But even with its impressive size, the Whooping Crane nearly became extinct, and in 1970 the bird was listed as an endangered species.

They are still federally listed as endangered. The population will be classified as such until they get around a thousand.

Trey Barron is a Wildlife Diversity Biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Once we get to that thousand population number the US Fish and Wildlife Service will readdress the status of the bird and potentially delist it. And that’s the ultimate goal is protect enough habitat and have enough birds that we can keep them off the list.

That habitat is the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas Gulf Coast and Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada. Due to massive conservation efforts over several years, the Whooping Crane population once in the teens, now number the hundreds.

The outlook for the Whooping Crane is very positive. Just through years of successful reproduction, good wintering habitat down here, they’re on their way to total recovery.

That’s good news, and validation that conversation and management of Whooping Cranes will ensure survival of the species.

Whooping cranes began their fall migration south to Texas in mid-September.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Wild Hog Adventure winner , his hunting buddies and their harvest.

Big Time Wild Hog Adventure Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Feral Hogs are an interesting predicament we have here in Texas.

Justin Dreibelbis is the Private Lands and Public Hunting Program Director at Texas Parks and Wildlife.

They cause a lot of agricultural damage for people trying to run ranches and farms. However, on the other hand, they are entertaining to hunt and they are good table fare. We run the wildlife phone bank here at Parks and Wildlife headquarters in Austin, and one of the biggest calls is out of state hunters wanting to come to Texas to hunt hogs. There is interest from hunters both in Texas and out of state.

Here comes the Big Time Texas Hunts’ Wild Hog Adventure. You and three friends could win a chance to hunt free-range wild boar on a ranch in the South Texas Brush Country.

You get to hunt on private land that’s covered in feral hogs. You get high quality lodging, high quality food, and a guide. A lot of people hunt feral hogs because of the food value. It’s organic, it’s lean and it’s good on the grill.

Each online entry for the Wild Hog Adventure is only $9. There’s a $5 online administration fee, but you can enter as many times as you want in a single transaction. Just search for Big Time Texas Hunts on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

Monies raised from the Big Time Texas Hunts program go directly to wildlife conservation and public hunting opportunities in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

2018 Nilgai Antelope Safari winner, Craig McCallum, with his bounty.

Big Time Nilgai Antelope Safari Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Often times if you’re not careful, they see you or hear you long before you see them.

Justin Dreibelbis is the Private Lands and Public Hunting Program Director at Texas Parks and Wildlife. He’s talking about Nilgai Antelope, an exotic game species in South Texas that’s included in one of ten premium Big Time Texas Hunts.

The Nilgai Antelope Safari is a really cool opportunity. You’re hunting on a historic South Texas Ranch. You’re staying at a really cool camp, really delicious food. You’ve got an experienced guide that’s there to help you through every step of the process, from finding the animal, taking a great shot, and then helping you with game care after the fact and that’s a really important point for Nilgai because they’re really big animals.

Animals that can top 700 pounds. Now that’s some big game. You could win the Nilgai Antelope Safari by entering online for $9. There’s a $5 online administration fee, but you can enter as many times as you want in a single transaction.

Big Time Texas Hunts is a conservation fundraiser. It’s a fun opportunity every year for people to put in and have a chance at something really, really special, to make money for wildlife conservation and public hunting opportunities.

To enter online, search for Big Time Texas Hunts on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

2018 Grand Slam winner, Greg May ,at right, with his stepson Cauy and their professional guide, Greg Horak. Greg harvested a very nice 6½ year old 11-point mule deer that gross scored 171.

On Deck for a Grand Slam Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

It’s time to step up to the plate and see if you can win the Texas Grand Slam.

Of all our Big Time Texas Hunt packages, the granddaddy of them all is the Grand Slam package.

Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Private Lands and Public Hunting Program Director Justin Dreibelbis.

This is where you hunt four iconic big game species all around the state in one calendar year.

That’s desert bighorn sheep, desert mule deer, pronghorn antelope and white-tailed deer. This is your opportunity to hunt with professional guides on some of the best wildlife management areas and private ranches in the state. Plus, you’ll get full lodging, meals and taxidermy with each hunt provided by Woodbury Taxidermy.

Enter online for only $9. There’s a $5 online administration fee, but you can enter as many times as you want in a single transaction. Just search for Big Time Texas Hunts on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

You don’t want to miss this chance of a lifetime. Take it from Greg May, the 2018 Texas Grand Slam winner.

To me it was the biggest dream come true in the world. I would tell everybody put your chances in, you might be the lucky guy or lady that wins it. If I can win it, anybody can.

The deadline to enter is October 15, so don’t stay on the bench. Hit a grand slam with Big Time Texas Hunts.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.