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.
Engaging Students in Studying Wildlife Along New Mexico Rivers
Following is a selected project highlight from the Share with Wildlife mission to assist all New Mexico wildlife in need, no matter what species. Engaging Students in Studying Wildlife Along New Mexico Rivers Santa Fe Indian School students and teacher on field visit. (Rich Schrader) How many different animals can you find on the river near where you live? What is the quality of the habitat that these animals use? What can you find out about the biology and relationships to their environment of particular species found in riparian areas (i.e., habitat next to rivers) in New Mexico? Riparian habitat quality datasheet. (Ginny Seamster) Testing river water phosphorous content. (Ginny Seamster) River Source is using Share with Wildlife funds to work with students at three schools in northern New Mexico to answer these questions and [...]
Department cautions public to leave young wildlife alone
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Public contact, Information Center: (888) 248-6866 Media contact, Tristanna Bickford: (505) 476-8027 tristanna.bickford@state.nm.us FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, JUNE 3, 2019: Department cautions public to leave young wildlife alone SANTA FE – As we head into summer, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish again reminds the public to leave alone any deer or antelope fawns, elk calves, bear cubs or other wild animals they may find. Please remember – young wildlife that people discover are simply hiding while awaiting their parents’ return from foraging nearby. Removing these young animals can cost them their lives, Orrin Duvuvuei, department deer and pronghorn biologist, warned. “You might think it has been abandoned, but in reality, the mother is typically a few hundred yards away,” Duvuvuei said. “In most cases, the best thing to do is just leave it alone and quietly leave the area.” [...]
Protecting Springsnails
Following is a selected project highlight from the Share with Wildlife mission to assist all New Mexico wildlife in need, no matter what species. Protecting Springsnails Captive habitat at BioPark. (Ginny Seamster) What can you do to help an animal that is found in only one spring that is smaller than the size of a three car garage? This is a question that a biologist at Turner Endangered Species Fund (TESF) and staff at the Albuquerque BioPark Aquatic Conservation Facility are working to answer using Share with Wildlife funds. The Chupadera springsnail is a mollusk that is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. This species is found in only one spring in central New Mexico. The ultimate goal for TESF, the Albuquerque BioPark, and the aquatic invertebrate biologist at NM Department of Game and Fish is to provide a refuge for this species in the event [...]
Teaching Science and Leadership Skills Simultaneously
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 Science and Leadership Skills Simultaneously Chihuahuan Desert food web. (Ginny Seamster) What is a food web? What kind of organisms are at the base of the food chain? How do decomposers fit in? What does the food chain of the gray vireo look like? What kind of management actions could be taken to improve the gray vireo’s status in New Mexico? These are all questions that the Asombro Institute for Science Education in Las Cruces is working with students in southern New Mexico to answer. Asombro, using funds from the Share with Wildlife program, has developed a new series of lessons for what Asombro calls “Science Intern modules” focused on Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) in Doña Ana County. They are placing [...]
Mapping a Deadly Pathogen
Following is a selected project highlight from the Share with Wildlife mission to assist all New Mexico wildlife in need, no matter what species. Mapping a Deadly Pathogen Swabbing the ventral side of a Chiricahua leopard frog. (Eric Christman) Chytrid fungus can have catastrophic impacts on amphibians. This fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis; Bd for short), has been documented in New Mexico in a variety of species by a number of different researchers. It has been documented as leading to the decline of species such as the boreal toad (Anaxyrus boreas), which was formerly found in many areas of Colorado and Wyoming and has experienced declines of 80% and 94%, respectively, in distribution and abundance in those states. Similarly, the Chiricahua leopard frog (Lithobates chiricahuensis) declined from approximately 250 localities in New Mexico to 20 between the 1970’s and 2000, with Bd thought to be the leading cause of the [...]