Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Recent drought and wildfires could have spelled the end for the endangered Houston Toad, which exists in and around Bastrop State Park.

05—A few months after the wildfire in Bastrop County, our surveys documented very few toads during that first breeding season.

This had wildlife biologists like Greg Creacy worried about the status of the remaining population. But a recent survey found more breeding toads than they had a right to expect after such devastation.

11— It’s puzzling, and we’re continuing to do research with collaborators like Texas State University. And we’re learning more about the species with every passing year, and we hope to have answers to those questions soon.

Using a “head start” program Creacy harvested egg strands from breeding areas – post fire – raised them to tadpole stage, then released them where they were found. While it gives them a higher survival rate…

27—We have noticed that the toads that we have found since the wildfire, typically do not weigh as much as they usually do. The eggs that they’re laying are smaller. So it appears that physiologically they’re not as in good health as they normally are. But you have hope that over time this will change? Yes. They’ve gone through a very difficult time with the drought and the subsequent wildfire, but we are optimistic things will be improving soon.

That’s our show. The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program program supports our series, and is funded by your purchase of fishing & hunting equipment and motorboat fuel.

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

Passport to Texas with support from the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program

Habitat protection and hunting restrictions (in place since the early 20th Century) saved the last wild migratory flock of whooping cranes from extinction.

06— Our whooping crane population in Texas is getting larger. We’re approaching about 300 birds in that population now.

That’s up from a low of 16 birds. Lee Ann Linam, a biologist in the Wildlife Diversity Program, says last year a few whoopers wintered farther inland than usual. To better understand this event, Texas Parks and Wildlife created a new monitoring program called Whooper Watch.

18–If we have whooping cranes that linger either in migration or in some of these non-traditional wintering areas, then we are training volunteers at workshops to go out and to observe those cranes in a way that’s not disturbing to the cranes, but would let them gather some data for us about the habitats they’re using and their behavior in those habitats.

Anyone can and should report a whooper sighting to Texas Parks and Wildlife, but if you want to go deeper, Lee Ann Linam recommends taking the training.

18– We’re using methods that are used by animal behaviorists – especially those who study cranes around the world. So our volunteers are learning some of the real techniques that biologists use. But anybody who enjoys watching wildlife and is a good observer, can learn from us how to gather this data in a way that is really useful to us.

Find information on Whooper Watch at the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The WSFR program supports our series and funds diverse conservation programs throughout Texas.

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

Passport to Texas with support from the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program

Texas has long been home to the last wild migratory flock of whooping cranes in the world.

05— And so we know that in Texas. And we enjoy seeing them and waiting for their arrival in the fall.

Lee Ann Linam is a biologist in the Wildlife Diversity program, and oversees the Nature Tracker program –which now includes Whooper Watch.

20–One of the interesting things that’s developing…as the whooping crane population expands… we’re seeing whooping cranes use new areas. Both in migration and in their wintering areas. And so, last year, when several whooping crane families spent the winter in the Austin area, we decided we wanted to be ready to watch for whoopers that might be using habitats like that and learn more about them.

Traditional Texas wintering grounds for the endangered species is the central-coast, around the Rockport area and in the vicinity of Aransas National Wildlife refuge. So, finding them so far inland last year was unusual.

20– Our whooping crane population in Texas is getting larger. We’re approaching about 300 birds in that population now. And as they try to squeeze themselves into their traditional wintering territories, perhaps they’re encountering some crowding there. In addition, last winter was a very mild winter, so inland water bodies that might have normally frozen early in the winter did not.

Linam also notes that habitat conditions on the coast last year may have suffered due to the drought. We’ll have information on Whooper Watch tomorrow.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and funds diverse conservation programs throughout Texas.

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

Passport to Texas with Support from the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program

Corporate America and sports teams depend on good recruiting…something they have in common with the endangered Attwater’s Prairie Chicken.

:07 — Historically, this bird went through periods of time when a population would be devastated, and then it would recruit from neighboring populations.

But they’ve had to change their recruiting tactics, says Mark Klym, Adopt-a-Prairie Chicken Program coordinator.

:02–Today those recruits have to come from the zoos.

Development destroyed the prairie chicken’s coastal habitat. We’ve gone from a million birds at the turn of the 20th century to fewer than 100 animals today. Currently Three small populations are maintained in the wild.

:21–The bird is being reproduced for release. We are confident that we have enough birds that we can maintain these three populations now that we have in the wild. But there’re biologists out there working with landowners every day trying to get land back in condition. And we have a number of landowners just
waiting and asking for release of the birds on their land.

Klym maintains the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken will continue to rebound, and not go quietly into that good night.

:08–We frequently get emails and calls asking when we expect this birds to go extinct. We don’t expect it to go extinct. This is going to be another good news story.

Learn about the adopt-a-prairie chicken program at passporttotexas.org. The Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Passport to Texas with support from the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program

The red wolf population once covered about a third of the southeast US, including Texas. By the late 1960S, the animals were nearly extinct.

07– The only red wolves left were in a little corner of southeastern Texas and Southwestern Louisiana … and there were only a few of them left.

Russell Roe, managing editor of TPW magazine, wrote a story about red wolves for the December issue. Habitat loss, wolf eradication programs, and an influx of coyotes, caused their near demise. An Austin College professor, noting the decline, sounded the alarm.

28–Well, about the same time, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act, and the red wolf was one of the first species listed in the act. So, their first priority was to maintain the red wolf population where it was … even though it was down to almost nothing, and the coyotes were still moving in. The realized that was not going to work, so they decided, this last ditch effort–the only way we’re going to save the red wolf is by gathering them all up, putting them in captivity, with the hopes of reintroducing them in the wild.

Researchers had their work cut out for them, as the wolves and coyotes had interbred.

19– Once they collected what they thought were red wolves, they had maybe 40 they were pretty sure were red wolves. Once they got rid of what they thought might be hybrids, they were down to 17 pure red wolves. Of those, 14 were used in the captive breeding program. So, all the red wolves we have today came from those 14.

Learn more when you read the December issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program program supports our series… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.