Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Restoration Program

Texas is the only US state with suitable Ocelot habitat.

The habitat that ocelots use is extremely dense brush. The type of brush that not only can you not see through it, you can’t walk through it.

Dr. Michael Tewes (two-ES) researches wild cats with the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute.

The main problem for ocelots now is, like many other endangered species, the lack of suitable habitat. There are less than 100 of them remaining in Texas and less than 1% of Texas has that very special habitat or cover type that they use. And since most of Texas is owned and managed by private landowners and ranchers, it is in their ability to protect the habitat that is vital to the recovery of ocelots.

Fewer ocelots mean less genetic diversity.

When the populations are as small as they are in Southern Texas, almost any kind of a wildlife population will start to decrease genetic diversity and tend to go towards extinction. We have been working on revising the recovery plan and, although it’s not finalized, translocation is suggested as a tool. The genetic diversity is much greater in Mexico than it is in Texas. And by bringing them into Texas it would help alleviate some of the problems that come with genetic erosion.

That’s our show… with research and writing help from Sarah Loden… and sponsored by the Wildlife Restoration program…working to restore critical habitat for endangered species like the ocelot.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Restoration Program

Ocelots are small wildcats that are spotted like jaguars and leopards; some of these animals live in South Texas.

We only know of two breeding populations in Texas. They occur primarily in Southern Texas now. Historically, ocelots occurred throughout much of Central and East Texas.

And they lived along the river banks. Dr. Michael Tewes (two-ES) has researched wild cats with the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute for 25 years. He says these beautiful animals are being driven to extinction by development, inbreeding, and habitat loss.

The population here in South Texas represents the United States population and there are less than 100 of them remaining. Therefore, they’re an endangered species. When the populations are as small as they are, almost any kind of a wildlife population will start to decrease genetic diversity and tend to go towards extinction.

Hear about the proposed recovery plan to restore the Texas Ocelot population tomorrow.

By increasing the genetic diversity of such a small population you can help reduce the amount of mortality that is increased with low genetic diversity, and increase survival and increase reproduction. There’s a stronger, vigorous population in Mexico that can be used to help augment the two populations that we have here in Texas.

That’s our show… with research and writing help from Sarah Loden… and sponsored by the Wildlife Restoration program…working to restore critical habitat for endangered species.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Restoration Program

Warren Blesh is president of the Simms Creek Wildlife Management Association, in Mills and Lampasas counties.

We’re really 75 landowners that have come together in cooperation with Texas Parks and Wildlife. We work with the recommendations from the biologist to manage the deer herd for our ranches—and what we’ll harvest each year.

The landowners have adjoining properties, and Blesh says since the association began seven year ago, they’ve seen improvement in their collective deer herd.

The ages are getting a lot better. When we started the association the average age of our deer harvested was one and a half, two and a half years old. We’ve moved that up to two and a half three and a half, and tree and a half to four and a half.

Older deer lead to a better herd. Association treasurer, Damon Holditch says improving the land, with thoughtful hunting, creates a stronger, healthier herd and turns shooters into hunters.

A shooter shoots the first thing that comes out. A hunter will actually work his particular ranch or blind area and select which deer should be harvested for the betterment of the whole herd.

Holditch says hunter education—Simms Creek style—weeds out the shooters from the hunters.

I think some of the guys who think they’re hunters and they’re shooters, they only stay around one year because they don’t want to be harassed—but that’s fine—we don’t want them here anyway, because they’re not good for the herd. The guys who really are hunters they do appreciate it.

That’s our show…with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program…working to restore habitat in Texas. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Restoration Program

Biologists Billy and Bonnie McKinney’s reintroduce black bears to West Texas. TV Producer, Ron Kabele, tells us about a segment this month that highlights their work.

Parks and Wildlife a few years ago decided to try to reintroduce the black bear back into west Texas; and that’s what Billy and Bonnie have been working on the last few years.

You see a bear out here in this country and they’ve been gone so long, and then to have them back—it’s a pretty incredible deal.

Hopefully we can give him some help to go ahead and finish his expansion into historic range.

And it’s also putting back a part of Texas that we thought was gone forever.

And what was interesting in one case was one of them got a call from Alpine; it’s a small town that’s close by.

There’s a bear in a tree at Alpine, and I’ve got the drug kit with me. Bill is in route, and Don’s gone over to pick up the covert trap, so we are on the way.

Billy went up into the tree and tranquilized the bear.

Okay, y’all get back a little bit. We’re going to drop him down. We’re going to attempt to drop him down.

And then, the bear fell out of the tree—which is what they do—and then they took it back into the bear’s original habitat.

We really moved him for his protection, not for people’s protection.

See it for yourself this month on Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… providing funding for black bear research and relocation.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

What do zoos and East Texas rivers have in common? Both are playground to the river otter!

We have a lot of water, rivers. Full of fish, full of crawdads. It’s just an ideal habitat out here. It’s just that you’re just generally not going to get to see one.

Gary Calkins is District Leader for the Pineywoods Ecological area.

It’s not like a deer that you can drive by and shine a spotlight. Otters stay primarily in the water. They will come out on land, but it’s only in little specific areas. And so unless you know their behaviors and what areas to go look for sign coming up onto the land. It just makes it really tough to find them.

Imagine, then, trying to get a head count…Every three years, Parks and Wildlife biologists conduct surveys under the 254 bridges in East Texas to track the population and distribution of river otters.

Someone will crawl under that bridge and look in the sand or mud for tracks or scat. And then we’re gonna take a subset of those 254 bridges and instead of surveying them once [during the survey period] we’ll go back repeatedly. We’ll also do transects a hundred meters upstream and downstream and look for sign. And through a big statistical formula you can tell if there are no animals there or if you are just missing finding them.

And finding them is worth the while. Calkins says they’re nature’s answer to the comedian, and in some instances, they’ll actually kind of show off for you.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Sarah Loden… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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