There are many struggles that face the wild red wolf population at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (ARNWR). I have already mentioned gunshot mortality and domestic dog diseases as two of the main problems that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) must address on a regular basis. However, another pressing issue is the importation of coyotes for the practice of coyote hunting, which can threaten the red wolf population in more ways than one. One of the initialRead more
Posts tagged: #animals
Spotlight: Uli Hartmond
Uli has been the director of our Butterfly House & Insectarium for the past six years. He and his five staff and 20 volunteers handle anything that has to do with making Magic Wings and the Insectarium beautiful. His job is a lot like mine: he has to mange the budget, coordinate staff, interact with guests, and step in whenever the horticulturalists and entomologists need a hand.Uli, like Keeper Larry, has spent many years in the world of academia. HeRead more
Observation of Girl Scouts (and other animals)
I spent Saturday night with about 30 Girl Scouts at the Museum (and this Saturday there will be about 60 of them). They were doing a really cool animal observation program, and then they got to sleep over! What troopers they were, taking on the role of wildlife biologists in the rain. They recorded animal behaviors using a variety of different tools commonly used by wildlife biologists. Our female wolf licked herself (“groom” was the category on their observation sheet)Read more
Nothing but net
Here are all the varieties we use here at the museum. As I was reorganizing them the other day, Keeper Jill sarcastically (what? Jill?) mentioned that the nets would be a fascinating post topic. I thought, well at least it will fit in nicely with what everyone’s been staring at all this past ACC tourney weekend… nets!Read more
Creature Feature: Yellow-eyed eastern screech owl
We are not really sure if this owl is a male or female, but we think it’s a female because of her size. She was known as “yellow-eyed screech” for several years because the other screech owl she lives with has gray eyes. However, we now call her “one-eyed screech” because she had one of her eyes removed last year. In 2005, she started showing signs of glaucoma in both of her eyes. Over time, the pressure in her rightRead more
Spotlight: Will Waddell
This is Will Waddell. Will is an important person to me (and others too) because he is a big-guy in the world of red wolves. Will is based in Tacoma, Washington at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. He is the Red Wolf SSP Coordinator. Species Survival Plans (SSPs) are programs that take a particular species in peril (typically animals endangered or threatend in the wild) and manage the entire population as one group. Breeding and conservation tend to beRead more