Our favorite wildlife stories of 2024

This year has been filled with interesting tales and fascinating research on wildlife throughout the world. Here are a few of The Wildlife Society’s favorite news stories published on wildlife.org in 2024.

Wild cam: Jaguar predation on livestock limited in NE Mexico

A team of researchers in northeast Mexico found that jaguars (Panthera onca) don’t prey on cattle as often as farmers and ranchers may think. Researcher Adrián Caballero and his colleagues set out to collar jaguars in San Luis Potosi, tracking their movements and studying what the cats were eating. Their study, which also used 10 years-worth of trail camera data, found that the animal’s most common prey were javelinas (Tayassu tajacu) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and that the cattle the animals consumed were most often scavenged instead of killed.

Are Alaskan wolves targeting wolverines?

Led by biologists from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, studies suggest that wolves may be targeting wolverines, with at least three confirmed kills in the last few years. Researchers said that wolves (Canis lupus) in the region may be attacking wolverines due to territorial or food-related disputes. 

Research challenges gopher tortoise listing decision

New research suggests that some of the science that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service used to justify not listing the gopher tortoise (Gopherus Polyphemus) under the Endangered Species Act is flawed. According to a study led by TWS member Kevin Loope and colleagues at Virginia Tech, the federal agency used “inflated predictions from a flawed model” when making the decision to deny the reptiles protection.

Could treating injured raptors help lift a population?

Raptors that are successfully rehabilitated and released following an injury could have a broader impact on the bird’s populations. Biologist John Goodell led a study examining banding data from 17 raptor species, including golden (Aquila chrysaetos) and bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and 24 wildlife rehabilitation centers across the U.S. For most of the raptor species, released birds were highly likely to survive in the wild.

Mountain lions change timing of activity in response to recreation

In response to human recreation during the day, mountain lions (Puma concolor) in the greater Los Angeles area are becoming more active at night. The National Park Service at the Santa Monica National Recreation Area has been studying the cats to learn more about how they are coexisting with urbanization and the people who enjoy recreating in the same habitat. Researchers used data from the Strava app to analyze how human activity overlaps with known mountain lion habitats and movement.

JWM: With too many free-roaming horses, sage-grouse suffer

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations struggle to survive when free-roaming horse (Equus caballus) populations get too large. Researchers from the University of Wyoming sought to learn more about the impact the horses have on greater sage-grouse nests, broods and juveniles in areas where the two species habitats overlap. Jeff Beck, a professor of rangeland wildlife habitat restoration ecology, and his colleagues published a study using 15 years-worth of data on sage-grouse and free-roaming horses to learn more. 

Coyote hunting doesn’t always decrease populations

With growing coyote (Canis latrans) populations throughout the U.S., Remington Moll, an assistant professor at the University of New Hampshire, led a study to learn more about the relationships between coyotes, human and other wildlife. Evidence suggested that hunting coyotes didn’t decrease their numbers and that the animals can even respond with increased numbers.

Lessons from the past may improve the future for manatees

Though current manatee (Trichechus manatus) populations in Florida are threatened, historical records suggest that their numbers today are higher than ever before. Thomas Pluckhahn, a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of South Florida, co-authored a study that found that Florida manatee populations increased just as human populations began growing in the area during the 1800s and 1900s. Pluckhahn hopes that this reason can help managers better understand manatee populations and ways to ensure their health in the future.

Kemp’s ridley sea turtle makes transatlantic journey

After a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) was found entangled in fishing nets off the coast of the Netherlands in 2023, an international effort was able to bring the turtle back home to the Gulf of Mexico in November. U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists believe that this turtle veered off course and followed unusually warm waters in the Atlantic. From there, it was caught in strong currents that pushed it into the cold waters surrounding Europe.

Dogs may be the key in detecting CWD infection

Trained dogs may provide a simpler and less invasive way to detect chronic wasting disease in wild and captive cervid species. A new study, Colorado State University researcher Glen Golden and his colleagues found that dogs rescued from local shelters were trained to discriminate between a CWD-infected deer and others without the infection. While there is still more to learn about surveillance measures for the disease, Golden said that employing trained conservation detection dogs at hunter check stations could give resource managers and wildlife agencies a valuable head start in disease containment.