Wildlife Vocalizations: Kylie Perez

April 19, 2024 by The Wildlife Society

As an underrepresented woman born in the late 1990s, I believe the most pressing challenges in wildlife conservation are the gaps between gender, generations and diversity. Historically, women have been underrepresented in environmental sciences as they face barriers to entry and advancement, even more so for underrepresented groups of people. Tackling these challenges is crucial for fostering a more inclusive and effective approach to wildlife conservation.

The first challenge involves addressing gender disparities within the field. Women may encounter issues such as unequal access to resources, safety concerns in remote field locations, and limited opportunities. Personally, I have seen women turned down for jobs solely due to the lack of adequate gender-based housing arrangements. Even when preparing for a field season, sourcing high-quality field pants that are made to fit a woman’s body not only correctly but comfortably with the same durability as men’s, proves to be a challenging task. Yet, I have encountered some of the most resilient and determined women right here in this field of work. Our strength has been forged through overcoming challenges, asserting our presence, and affirming our place. Addressing this significant impact that women can have is crucial to holistic conservation efforts.

Perez takes blood samples from deer to look for SARS-CoV-2 virus in Central Texas in August 2023. Credit: Dylan Stewart

The second challenge is bridging the generational gap. Education and mentorship are designed to encourage other generations to achieve success and learn valuable lessons. Modern technology plays a huge role in generational disparities, with younger generations raised in an extremely interconnected world. The younger generation exhibits a natural fluency with modern technology, whereas the older generation faces a considerable learning curve. We should embrace tools like artificial intelligence for multiple aspects of research as the next step. Recognizing the strengths and experiences of each generation to work together will influence a stronger connection.

Perez holds a bat that was caught using a mist net to take a variety of measurements. This was part of Perez’s master’s thesis work at Texas A&M University in the Rangeland Wildlife and Fisheries Management Department, looking at frequency of occurrence and vegetation selection of bats in South Texas. August 2022. Credit: Camryn Kiel

The final challenge is narrowing the diversity divide. The diversity gap encompasses issues related to race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic background and other factors. Underrepresented groups, including people of color and Indigenous communities, are often insufficiently represented in leadership roles. Leadership position access has been dominated by white males (Cech 2022), limiting diverse voices for solving the world’s pressing issues. This lack of diverse perspectives and cultural insights hinders the development of inclusive and culturally sensitive conservation strategies. By promoting diversity in leadership and integrating different perspectives, we can contribute to a more inclusive and effective approach to conservation and management.

There is great momentum in bridging these divides, yet the call for continuous effort to break down these barriers and advocate for equal opportunities is needed for comprehensive and, most importantly, sustainable solutions. Those in this field have a drive that propels us to seek information using all available resources. We are hungry for knowledge, fueled by a desire to inspire those around us as we embark on a journey to make the planet a better place for all.

A headshot of Perez, taken at the East Foundation 3 Minute Thesis Competition at the Texas Wildlife Association Private Lands Summit, July 2023. Credit: East Foundation

Wildlife Vocalizations is a collection of short personal perspectives from people in the field of wildlife sciences. Learn more about Wildlife Vocalizations, and read other contributions.

Submit your story for Wildlife Vocalizations or nominate your peers and colleagues to encourage them to share their story.

For questions, please contact tws@wildlife.org.

Header Image: Perez holds a tortoise during a study looking at the effects of prescribed fire on the state-threatened Texas tortoise on the East Foundation Ranch in South Texas in June. 2022. Credit: Camryn Kiel

Warning drivers about wandering wildlife

April 19, 2024 by The Wildlife Society

Cell phones can already warn drivers about upcoming traffic congestion or hazards on the highway. Could warnings about wildlife crossing the road be next?

In Brazil, researchers found that computer vision models that detect wildlife in other countries don’t work well for Brazilian species, and they’re often not fast enough to detect animals as they’re crossing a road. The team set out to address those issues by training computers to detect species that Brazilian drivers are likely to come across.

“The species were selected in accordance with the metrics recommended by the Brazilian Center for Road Ecology Studies,” said Gabriel Souto Ferrante, first author of the article published Scientific Reports, who conducted the study as part of his master’s research at the University of São Paulo’s Institute of Mathematics and Computer Sciences. The center estimates some 475 million animals are killed on Brazilian roads every year.

The researchers used videos from the São Carlos Ecological Park to test the system. By partnering with toll road operators and city governments, they plan to conduct further tests in real-world scenarios.

Read the study in Scientific Reports.

2024 TWS Elections: Canadian Representative

April 18, 2024 by The Wildlife Society

The ballot for The Wildlife Society’s 2024 elections includes nominees for the position of Canadian Representative to TWS Council.

Electronic ballots will be sent May 29 to all members with an email address. Members without an email address will receive a paper ballot in the mail. Voting will close June 30. Mailed paper ballots must be postmarked on or before June 30. In accordance with TWS’ Bylaws, newly elected council members are scheduled to be installed at the next regular meeting of Council during the 31st Annual Conference, Oct. 19-23, in Baltimore, MD.

The candidates’ statements expressing their vision for The Wildlife Society and their interest in running for this council position are below.

NOMINEES FOR CANADIAN REPRESENTATIVE TO TWS COUNCIL

Al Arsenault

Throughout my career as a wildlife biologist, I’ve remained committed to life-long learning and service to wildlife conservation and to TWS in whatever capacity I could as a member, at the working group, chapter, section, and parent society levels.  Professionalism and promotion of our organization is a means of demonstrating credibility of our trademarked professional designations (AWB® and CWB®) so that members with these designations are recognized by industry, academia, ENGOs, and governments at all levels as the preeminent authority on wildlife science, management, and conservation.  In service to TWS, I’ve strived to elevate recognition of TWS professional designations in Canada.  I envision TWS professional designations to be highly valued and sought after by wildlife professionals in our organization as a career goal to achieve, one that nurtures commitment to high ethical and professional standards in wildlife science, conservation, and management.  To this end, my goals are: 1) continued development of the Canadian Section and TWS Parent Society as an organization that serves an important and positive influential role in management and conservation forums in North America, 2) to foster significant and substantive contributions by our members that ensure sustainable wildlife populations in healthy ecosystems through professional collaboration, discovery, science-based management, and conservation; (3) to foster a TWS culture of lifetime continued learning and professionalism; 4) to encourage students and early career wildlife professionals to become active members and leaders of the wildlife profession; and 5) to recognize and celebrate the contributions and professionalism of our mid and late career members.

Read Al Arsenault’s complete biographical sketch here.

Dennis Brannen      

Over the past twenty-one years, I have had extensive experience working in various government settings that has included various fieldwork settings with the last fifteen years focused on Species at Risk management. I am a professional certified wildlife biologist. What first drew me to this profession was the opportunity to make a meaningful difference for wildlife, to work outdoors, travel, and work with others as part of a productive team. My passion for wildlife has greatly influenced my work ethic. The Wildlife Society has provided me with a great opportunity to network with other wildlife professionals that has led to lifelong friendships. Having the opportunity to help in a small way guide the Canadian Section to becoming a larger voice for Canadian wildlife has been an honor and privilege. I look forward to furthering the voice of wildlife professionals as stewards of Canadian wildlife.

Read Dennis Brannen’s complete biographical sketch here.

Gentrification brings more wildlife to urban areas

April 18, 2024 by The Wildlife Society

When urban areas gentrify, it doesn’t just change the characteristics of the people who live in those neighborhoods. It also changes the wildlife.

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers found gentrified areas have notably more urban wildlife than ungentrified parts of the same city.

“This leaves marginalized communities without meaningful access to nature, which is a problem,” said Mason Fidino, quantitative ecologist at Lincoln Park Zoo and lead author on the study.

The study, led by Lincoln Park Zoo’s Urban Wildlife Institute, analyzed data from 23 cities across the continental U.S., collected by partners of the Urban Wildlife Information Network , a collective of scientists, ecologists and educators dedicated to understanding biodiversity and mitigating human-wildlife conflict in cities.

The study found that, on average, the number of different species living in a gentrified part of a city is 13% higher than in a compositionally comparable ungentrified part of the same city. This means that gentrified neighborhoods can support one to two more species on average.

Read the study here.

Oil and gas development, tree cover not good for pronghorn productivity

April 17, 2024 by Joshua Rapp Learn

More than three decades of intensifying oil and gas extraction and an increase in forest cover have stymied pronghorn productivity in Wyoming.

“This stronghold of pronghorn in Wyoming does seem to be under threat from oil and gas production,” said Victoria Donovan, assistant professor of forest management at the University of Florida.

In a study published recently in Global Ecology and Conservation, Donovan and her team tapped into data on pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) productivity that the Wyoming Game and Fish Department gathered from 1984 to 2019. They then used remotely sensed vegetation cover, wildfire, road, climate, and oil and gas infrastructure location data to characterize ecosystem changes over this period.

Pronghorn productivity is decreasing in Wyoming. Credit: Martin Mitchell

The researchers found that oil and gas wells had increased during this time. further, as this infrastructure increased on the landscape, pronghorn productivity decreased. Not only do well pads directly take up habitat for pronghorn, Donovan said, but infrastructure like roads and power lines used to reach them, or fences related to fossil fuel extraction, also contributes to habitat fragmentation.

While these findings may not be surprising, the researchers also found that oil and gas development wasn’t the only problem that pronghorn have been facing in recent decades. Tree cover proved detrimental to the ungulates’ success as well. By the later end of the data collection, tree cover increased across the majority of Wyoming’s 40 pronghorn herd units, but it wasn’t as high in the early years of the study.

Pronghorn prefer areas with less woody tree cover. Credit: Martin Mitchell

“Woody cover is still pretty low in Wyoming, but we’re seeing that it’s having an impact on pronghorn,” Donovan said.

Tree cover provides opportunities for predators like coyotes (Canis latrans) and cougars (Puma concolor) to ambush the ungulates or their fawns more easily. Tree cover might also affect the vegetation that pronghorn forage.

Since putting a stop to oil and gas development is unlikely, Donovan said this study reveals that controlling the increase in tree cover in Wyoming might be another way to improve pronghorn conservation. This could be done through cutting trees or prescribed fires, she said.

The May issue of the Journal of Wildlife Management

April 17, 2024 by The Wildlife Society

The Journal of Wildlife Management is a benefit of membership in The Wildlife Society. Published eight times annually, it is one of the world’s leading scientific journals covering wildlife science, management and conservation, focusing on aspects of wildlife that can assist management and conservation.

Join today for access to the Journal of Wildlife Management and all the other great benefits of TWS membership.

Motion-sensitive cameras are commonly used to monitor wildlife occupancy rates, but how do their data correlate with density estimates obtained from more traditional methods? In the featured article of the May issue of the Journal of Wildlife Management, researchers compared camera data with more data from other methods for variety of species, including moose, coyotes and snowshoe hares. Other articles look at sex-specific resource use by wild turkeys in response to hunting activity, Mojave desert tortoise head-starting, red fox expansion into the tundra, and more.

Log in to read the May issue today.

Current and past TWS presidents urge Wyoming to address wildlife abuse

April 16, 2024 by The Wildlife Society

In a letter to Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, the president and president-elect of The Wildlife Society—along with 23 past presidents—condemned the actions of an individual who allegedly ran over a gray wolf with a snowmobile and proceeded to callously display and photograph the animal before killing it.

In their letter, these professionals—each with decades of experience in wildlife research, management and conservation—expressed their disgust at the long delay in killing this injured wolf. The events, which occurred near Daniel, Wyoming, in February, sparked local and global outrage.

“The Wildlife Society supports responsible human use of wildlife where such use is an appropriate human activity,” said TWS President Bob Lanka, a Wyoming resident and retired Wyoming Game and Fish Department biologist. “But this wasn’t hunting—it was intentional inhumane disabling, compounded by unnecessary suffering and delayed killing of wildlife, which has no place in our system of wildlife management.”

These longstanding leaders in The Wildlife Society urged Gov. Gordon to work with state legislators to swiftly remedy the lack of statutory laws that currently render the pursuit and harming or killing of wolves and other wildlife with snow machines—or other vehicles—legal in Wyoming.

“Every ethical hunter knows and every hunter education student is taught that one of their primary responsibilities is to take an animal quickly and humanely in order to minimize suffering,” the presidents wrote. “In this instance hunting was not involved, only inhumane handling, unnecessary suffering, and delayed killing.”

Read the position statements of The Wildlife Society on Responsible Human Use of Wildlife, Hunting, and the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.

Header Image: Wyoming lacks laws against the pursuit and harming or killing of wolves with snow machines or other vehicles in a portion of the state where they are statutorily defined as a predatory animal. Credit: John and Karen Hollingsworth/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Harmful flame retardants appear in peregrine falcon eggs

April 16, 2024 by The Wildlife Society

Researchers found that peregrine falcons across North America are heavily contaminated with harmful flame retardants—including some that have been phased out for years.

In a study published in Environmental Science & Technology, researchers found that the chemicals, which are added to furniture, electronics and other everyday products to meet flammability standards, appeared in peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) eggs collected from multiple locations in the U.S. and Canada.

The chemicals can migrate out of the products and end up in wildlife and people.

“Flame retardants phased out a decade ago are still accumulating in these birds and into their eggs, which indicates that the threats of these chemicals to wildlife and people can far outlast their production,” said lead Da Chen, a scientist at Jinan University.

Read more from Newsweek.

USFWS begins grizzly bear restoration assessment in the Bitterroot ecosystem

April 15, 2024 by Hannah Henry

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is evaluating the potential environmental impacts of restoring the grizzly bear to the Bitterroot ecosystem in Montana and Idaho.

The project is currently in the public scoping phase, a crucial early stage of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. During this phase, the USFWS will solicit and consider stakeholder input to help shape an eventual environmental impact statement (EIS).

In line with NEPA requirements, the USFWS will prepare an EIS to assess various strategies for grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) restoration informed by information gathered during scoping. NEPA, enacted in 1969, mandates a systematic approach to evaluating the environmental effects of actions U.S. federal agencies propose.

The grizzly bear, an iconic symbol of the American wilderness, once roamed most of the western United States. However, human-caused mortality and habitat loss significantly reduced their numbers and distribution, resulting in their listing under the Endangered Species Act in 1975.

State and federal efforts have been made to restore grizzly bear populations in various ecosystems across the country. The Bitterroot ecosystem, encompassing parts of Montana and Idaho, is one such area identified for potential grizzly bear restoration. “The Bitterroot ecosystem is one of the six identified grizzly bear recovery zones in the lower 48 States,” the USFWS said in a press release, “Although individual grizzly bears have been documented in the Bitterroot ecosystem, no established population—defined as having two or more breeding females or one female with two consecutive litters—currently exists in this recovery zone.”

In 2000, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service developed a similar plan to reintroduce grizzly bears to the Bitterroot ecosystem, involving transferring at least 25 bears over five years from regions in Canada and the United States with habitats similar to those in the Bitterroot. However, the George W. Bush administration did not take action on implementing the plan in 2001. Since then, the USFWS has noted an increasing frequency of individual bears migrating into the Bitterroot and surrounding areas from other ecosystems, particularly in recent years.

The Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in November 2021 for failing to implement the 2000 plan. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy then ordered the federal agency to draft a new environmental impact assessment.

TWS member Mark Boyce, a professor of ecology at the University of Alberta, and a prominent grizzly bear researcher, emphasized the vital role of grizzly bears in wilderness ecosystems. “Grizzly bears were a major component of these ecosystems. It is a vast wilderness area,” he said. “We need bears in places like that … to maintain the key components of those ecosystems.”

The public scoping process, which concluded on March 18, 2024, provided an opportunity for stakeholders to voice their opinions and concerns regarding the proposed grizzly bear restoration efforts.

The USFWS is seeking input from various stakeholders, including federal and state agencies, Tribes, NGOs, businesses and the general public. Additionally, the USFWS will host virtual public scoping meetings to further engage with stakeholders and address questions regarding the scope of the EIS and proposed alternatives. The draft EIS is expected to be available for public review and comment before the end of 2025.

Iran frees scientists who studied big cats

April 15, 2024 by The Wildlife Society

Four biologists who studied big cats have been released after six years of imprisonment in Iran. The scientists were pardoned as part of a mass amnesty at the end of Ramadan.

The four were among nine conservationists arrested in January 2018. One died in prison. The others were sentenced on espionage charges. After the previous release of four of them, none of the nine now remains in prison.

The scientists were researching species including the endangered Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) and Persian leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana) at the time of their arrest.

The United Nations Environment Programme, which called for the release, welcomed the announcement. “All voices must be heard and protected as we seek environmental stewardship of the one and only planet on which we all depend,” it said in a statement.

Read more from Nature.