Arizona wolf numbers are up

Still plenty more room for more wolves
February 2012. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Arizona Game and Fish Department and other partners in the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project have announced that the endangered Mexican wolf population count increased to a minimum of 58 wolves compared to last year's count of 50. 

The increase is encouraging news for the multi-agency program, especially considering that the state's largest wildfire, the Wallow, burned through three packs' denning areas within weeks of pups being born.

"Even though these numbers are below the target levels of the recovery plan, these elements exhibit a cornerstone achievement in Mexican wolf conservation," continued Voyles, "and this year's count gives credence to the fact that we are moving in a positive direction."

The IFT estimates the Mexican wolf population at a minimum count level because it is impossible to find and verify every uncollared animal that may exist in the wild. However, the 2011 population count is considered one of the most inclusive because the IFT trapped and collared 16 wolves this autumn, allowing biologists to more accurately track and estimate the population than in years when fewer animals were collared.

• Wolves released into Mexico's Sonora Mountains 

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/arizona-wolves.html

Could it be? Another chupacabra sighting?

A Tucson meteorologist spotted a creature about the size of a coyote, but with no fur and with dark skin and big ears.

Some think it's the chupacabra, the creature of urban legend.

Rumors of the mythical creature have been bouncing around the Southwest for half-century. It's said to attack goats and livestock.

The word chupacabra comes from Spanish terms for "suck" and "goat" and when placed together, mean "goat sucker." Chupacabra sightings have been rumored in North America, Mexico and Puerto Rico for more than 50 years, though descriptions can be varied. One constant is the supposed predilection of the chupacabra to attack goats or other livestock.

Scientists familiar with the legend of the chupacabra say the animals probably are coyotes, raccoons or other furry mammals suffering from a skin disease that causes loss of hair.

http://www.kpho.com/story/16443114/could-it-be-another-chupacabra-sighting

5th ocelot sighting confirmed (via Chad Arment)

The fifth confirmed Arizona ocelot sighting in two years was reported Friday by the chairman of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission.

Chairman Robert R. Woodhouse said at a commission meeting that the state Game and Fish Department had confirmed a new ocelot sighting report in southeastern Arizona on Friday. The ocelot is listed as an endangered species in the United States.

A Game and Fish officer investigating a report from another source found tracks and received several images that helped the department determine this was a verified ocelot report. More specific details about the cat and where it was found were not available late Friday.

Two other ocelot sightings occurred in February and May of this year in the Huachuca Mountains, while a dead ocelot was found near Globe in April 2010, Game and Fish officials have said.
In November 2009, remote cameras placed by the conservation group Sky Island Alliance photographed an ocelot in Cochise County. Until that sighting, no confirmed ocelot sightings had occurred in Arizona since 1964.


Read more: http://azstarnet.com/news/science/environment/th-ocelot-sighting-confirmed/article_bd63c811-1745-50f5-9786-98afc850c5a1.html#ixzz1ffC8QERU



Eds' note:  However, here is update on that story:

Sighting was African cat, not ocelot

TUCSON, AZ (KOLD) - After further review, the Arizona Game and Fish Department said the reported rare sighting of an ocelot was another breed of cat called a serval.

A serval is a popular African cat in the pet trade, the fish and game department said.

The Department uses a three-tiered classification system to rank reported sightings from the public based on the level of physical evidence available, the department said.

The presence of physical evidence such as scat, hair, tracks and/or photos and video can lead to a Class I designation of "verifiable" or "highly probable."

Read more here ...

3 more Californian condors released in Arizona in September

Population had fallen to just 22 birds August 2011: Three California condors will be released to the wild in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in northern Arizona next month.

Members of the public are welcome to watch the release from a viewing area, where spotting scopes will be set up. The release on Saturday, September 24 will be the 17th public release of condors in Arizona since a recovery programme began in 1996.

Hatched and reared in captivityCondors are hatched and reared in captivity at The Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho, and transported to Arizona for release to the wild. Condors also come to the release area from the Oregon Zoo, Los Angeles Zoo, and San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

Currently, 70 condors are in the wild in the Grand Canyon region. The world's total population of endangered California Condors is 399, with 198 of them in the wild in Arizona, Utah, California, and Mexico. Condors were reduced to just 22 individuals in the 1980s when a programme was begun to save the species from extinction. Research shows that lead poisoning from spent lead ammunition is the principle mortality agent for the condor flock, which forages largely on its own, and the programme has also made advancements in reducing the prevalence and impact of lead.

Recovery and reintroduction cooperators in Arizona include The Peregrine Fund, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/condor-release011.html#cr

Ariz. Street Sign Prank Warns Of 'Rogue Panda'

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Authorities in Flagstaff, Ariz., are assuring residents there are no rogue pandas roaming the city after some pranksters got creative with an electronic street sign.

The Arizona Department of Transportation-controlled sign was set up to warn drivers not to make left turns at a busy intersection. But motorists heading to work Monday morning got an entirely different message: "Rogue panda on rampage."

A passer-by reported the hacked sign to police at about 3 a.m. Monday.

Transportation Department spokeswoman Mackenzie Nuno says the sign was restored to its original message by 11 a.m. She says the agency has no suspects, but she noted the hackers would have needed specialized equipment to change the sign.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/24/ariz-street-sign-prank-warns-of-rogue-panda_n_934843.html

Darnell Dockett vs. PETA: Did He Or Didn't He Buy A Gator?

Did you hear the one about the Cardinal who purchases an alligator?
It's actually not a very funny joke, especially if you're a member of PETA.

Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Darnell Dockett recently attracted the attention of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for purchasing an alligator in the Florida Everglades, according to the organization.

But did he? No, according to a witness with whom The Huffington Post spoke.

"Nobody purchases alligators here," said Beverly Mosko, a manager at Everglades Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The animals in the park are, in fact, rescues, according to the park manager.

The reports of Dockett's alleged purchase began surfacing after he live blogged a trip to the park. On July 3, Dockett tweeted: "I'm out here messing with these gators in everglades!" He followed that tweet with a photo of himself and a baby alligator that was captioned, "I just bought this! His new name is NINO."

On July 7, PETA sent a letter to Dockett informing him that it had been alerted to his baby alligator purchase and was aware that he intended to "keep him as a captive pet."

The letter detailed the prohibitive laws and regulations against keeping an alligator as a pet, described how the animal would become "neurotic and self-destructive ... because of extreme boredom," and warned, "You would be held liable for any damage, injuries, or illnesses caused by the alligator."


The letter added, "We stand ready to help find a suitable habitat for this animal."

There's only one problem: The purchase, according to Holiday Park, never happened. Instead, Dockett had paid to have his photo taken with the gator and had apparently posted it to Twitter as a joke.

"They charge $5 for people to hold it -- to get their picture with the gator," Mosko said. "What they do with [the picture] after that is up to them. It's just a photo."

According to Mosko, the park was not contacted by PETA to confirm the purchase had taken place.

Dockett's agent did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Huffington Post on Monday. The pro-baller is, however, apparently having some fun with PETA, as is evident by several of his Twitter posts.

The Huffington Post spoke with Stephanie Bell, Associate Director of PETA's Cruelty Investigations Department, on Monday afternoon and informed her about the Everglades Holiday Park comments regarding the alligator.

"We are quite relieved to learn that he did not purchase an alligator," Bell said.

"We have concerns about the fact that the photo features an animal whose mouth was shut with electrical tape," she added. "So we will probably want to look into that a little further."

http://weirdnews.aol.com/2011/07/11/darnell-dockett-peta-buy-alligator_n_894748.html#s306778

Rare Ocelot Found Dead, Endangered Species Not Seen In AZ Since 1960's

(submitted by Chad Arment via Kevin Stewart)

Arizona Reporter - Arizona News - 23/04

The Arizona Game and Fish Department yesterday collected a dead, intact carcass of a cat resembling an ocelot, a rare small to medium-sized cat that is listed as a federally endangered species.

The animal reportedly was accidentally hit and killed by a motorist on Sunday, April 18 on Highway 60 between Superior and Globe.

In cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the Department is in the process of shipping the carcass to the Service’s national forensics laboratory located in Ashland, Oregon, where it will undergo testing to determine if the cat is actually an ocelot of wild origin.

“Currently, we have no reason to suspect that this is anything other than a wild, naturally occurring ocelot and genetic analysis should help with verification,” said Eric Gardner, the Department nongame and endangered species program lead. “Although not legal to possess in Arizona under most circumstances, ocelots are actually fairly common in the pet trade and genetic testing may help us determine its origin or if this was a captive-raised animal.”

Coincidently, The Sky Island Alliance, a Tucson-based non-governmental organization, last week announced that a volunteer citizen naturalist had retrieved an image of an ocelot from one of the Alliance’s remote cameras placed in Cochise County. The image was dated November 7, 2009. Sky Island Alliance has not yet publicly released the photo.

There have been only a handful of verified ocelot sightings backed up by specimens or photos in Arizona. The species has not been documented in Arizona since 1964 and historical records are very rare. Investigations of the occasional sightings reported since 1964 have often determined that a bobcat had been misidentified as an ocelot, despite the significant difference in tail length between the two species.

Ocelots are small to medium-sized spotted cats with a long tail. They tend to be smaller in the more northerly parts of their range than in the central or southern areas of occurrence. Their upper body coloring is highly variable ranging from grayish to cinnamon, or tawny to reddish brown, with dark markings forming chainlike streaks (generally forming black-bordered elongated spots that are more nearly stripes than spots) down the sides. Their present range is in the eastern and western lowlands of Mexico, from southern Mexico through Central America, and in the lowland areas of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil. On the fringes of their range, they occupy a very limited region in both the United States (a remnant population exists in southern Texas) and Argentina.

The ocelot was listed in the U.S. as a federally endangered species in 1982.

http://www.azreporter.com/news/index.php?itemid=983


Posted: Apr 29, 2010 11:38 PM
Updated: May 07, 2010 1:44 PM
Posted by Dan Marries
TUCSON, AZ (KOLD) - A snapshot of a rare animal is stirring excitement in wildlife circles. The photograph, dated November 7, 2009, was captured with a remote sensing camera located only 40 miles north of the international border. Today, Sky Island Alliance released the original ocelot photo:

http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=12402245