NMDGF Conservation News
The latest conservation news and press releases from New Mexico Game and Fish. Department-wide news can be found under Home → NMDGF News.
NMDGF conservation officers transfer tiger cub to ABQ BioPark
ALBUQUERQUE – New Mexico Department of Game and Fish conservation officers took possession of a young Bengal tiger confiscated by the Albuquerque Police Department on Tuesday. You can learn more about this case by visiting APD’s News Page. Conservation officers transferred the tiger to the ABQ BioPark, where it was examined by veterinarians and determined to be in good health. The tiger will reside in its temporary home at the BioPark until an investigation is completed and a permanent facility is located. “The Department of Game and Fish suspects that the tiger confiscated Tuesday is not the same tiger sought during the August 2022 search,” Field Operations Division Col. Tim Cimbal said. The tiger from August is believed to be more than 1 year old and likely weighs 50-90 pounds at this time. The tiger confiscated Tuesday is only a few months old and weighed only 20 pounds. [...]
Mexican Wolf Located North of Interstate 40 in Northeast New Mexico
SANTA FE – A female wolf (f2754) has been documented crossing out of the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area (MWEPA) north of Interstate 40 in New Mexico. The wolf is affixed with a radio collar, which is transmitting its movements. The wolf dispersed from its natal pack (Rocky Prairie) at the end of 2022 and was documented crossing the I-40 boundary early this week. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish are monitoring the f2754s movements. Mexican wolves that move outside the MWEPA, including north of I-40, are listed and protected as federally endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Therefore, livestock owners and the public cannot haze or harass wolves north of I-40 without violating the Act, unless the wolf actively poses a threat to human safety. The Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team has notified private landowners in the area. Anyone [...]
Teaching Students How Wildlife Researchers Study Wildlife
Following is a selected project highlight from the Share with Wildlife mission to assist all New Mexico wildlife in need, no matter what species. Teaching Students How Wildlife Researchers Study Wildlife Asombro educator goes over habitat associations of different animals. (Ginny Seamster) How do scientists gather data on different animals? What are some species found in the region of New Mexico we live in? What about animals that live in nearby mountainous areas? These are some of the questions around which educators with the Asombro Institute for Science Education have developed a new environmental education module (i.e., multiple lessons) and that Asombro will be working with second grade students in southern New Mexico to answer. The module includes three lessons. Two focus on surveying the students’ schoolyards to determine which species of wildlife are present based on direct detections and animal sign and determining what would need [...]
Department of Game and Fish releases young bears back into the wild
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Public contact, Information Center: 888-248-6866Media contact, Darren Vaughan: 505-476-8027darren.vaughan@dgf.nm.gov FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, DEC. 12, 2022: Department of Game and Fish releases young bears back into the wild SANTA FE — Three young bears who were orphaned earlier this year were released by New Mexico Department of Game and Fish staff into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in San Miguel County on Saturday, Dec. 3. Two of the cubs were found earlier this year after their mother was hit by a car and killed on Interstate 25 in the Glorieta Pass area, The other was found near the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fire area this past spring. Since their rescue by department staff, the cubs had been under the care of Dr. Kathleen Ramsay with Cottonwood Rehab, an Española-area non-profit specializing in the rehabilitation of sick and injured wildlife. On the morning of Dec. 3, [...]
How to Manage Forests in the Land of an Endemic Salamander
Following is a selected project highlight from the Share with Wildlife mission to assist all New Mexico wildlife in need, no matter what species. How to Manage Forests in the Land of an Endemic Salamander Male and female salamanders. (Ginny Seamster) What temperature and precipitation levels allow a narrowly distributed salamander to move on the ground surface vs. stay below ground? Are there conditions or times of year during which forest treatments, including thinning or prescribed burns, can more safely be conducted to minimize impacts to this salamander? What are the impacts of wildfire on the Sacramento Mountain salamander? These are some of the questions that Dr. Nancy Karraker and students in her lab at the University of Rhode Island, including a recent graduate student, Ryan Healey, and a future student, Marissa Ardovino, are trying to answer with collaborator Dr. Rachel Loehman, a fire ecologist with the U.S. [...]