Post by Steve Sutton on Jun 22, 2010 9:15:31 GMT -5
ALA. INDIGO PROJECT HAS GA. TIES
The recent return of federally threatened indigo snakes to Alabama is
rooted in Georgia. The Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries
Division released 18 juvenile indigos at 84,000-acre Conecuh National
Forest along the Alabama-Florida line June 16.
The non-venomous snake, North America?s longest, had not been
confirmed in the wild in Alabama since the mid-1950s. But the state
wildlife agency and Auburn University raised indigos in a State Wildlife
Grant project aimed at establishing a population. Georgia provided
gravid female snakes, collected in the wild by permit and later returned
to their collection sites. Auburn and Zoo Atlanta raised the hatchlings.
The released snakes carry tags for identification and radio transmitters
to track them.
Conecuh features acres of restored longleaf pine ecosystem, prime
habitat for the captive-raised indigos. ?Habitat improvement and
hopefully better human tolerance for the role of the indigo snake will
allow it to come back? in Alabama, said John Jensen, a senior wildlife
biologist with the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division.
Project partners also included Project Orianne, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service and Fort Stewart. Details at
www.outdooralabama.com/news.
MORE GOPHER FROGS RELEASED IN S. GA.
Williams Bluff Nature Preserve near Blakely received another 300 gopher
frog metamorphs last week. The reintroduction of the rare frogs to The
Nature Conservancy preserve will benefit this summer from possibly 1,000
tadpoles and metamorphs (young frogs just transforming from tadpoles)
raised by the University of Georgia and Atlanta Botanical Garden.
The five-year project started in 2007 focuses on a frog species rated a
high priority in Georgia?s Wildlife Action Plan. Across their
six-state range, gopher frogs have lost an estimated 97 percent of their
habitat. The stubby, nocturnal nocturnal frogs spend most of their lives
in gopher tortoise burrows and are found almost exclusively in the
Coastal Plain?s longleaf pine ecosystem.
The recent return of federally threatened indigo snakes to Alabama is
rooted in Georgia. The Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries
Division released 18 juvenile indigos at 84,000-acre Conecuh National
Forest along the Alabama-Florida line June 16.
The non-venomous snake, North America?s longest, had not been
confirmed in the wild in Alabama since the mid-1950s. But the state
wildlife agency and Auburn University raised indigos in a State Wildlife
Grant project aimed at establishing a population. Georgia provided
gravid female snakes, collected in the wild by permit and later returned
to their collection sites. Auburn and Zoo Atlanta raised the hatchlings.
The released snakes carry tags for identification and radio transmitters
to track them.
Conecuh features acres of restored longleaf pine ecosystem, prime
habitat for the captive-raised indigos. ?Habitat improvement and
hopefully better human tolerance for the role of the indigo snake will
allow it to come back? in Alabama, said John Jensen, a senior wildlife
biologist with the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division.
Project partners also included Project Orianne, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service and Fort Stewart. Details at
www.outdooralabama.com/news.
MORE GOPHER FROGS RELEASED IN S. GA.
Williams Bluff Nature Preserve near Blakely received another 300 gopher
frog metamorphs last week. The reintroduction of the rare frogs to The
Nature Conservancy preserve will benefit this summer from possibly 1,000
tadpoles and metamorphs (young frogs just transforming from tadpoles)
raised by the University of Georgia and Atlanta Botanical Garden.
The five-year project started in 2007 focuses on a frog species rated a
high priority in Georgia?s Wildlife Action Plan. Across their
six-state range, gopher frogs have lost an estimated 97 percent of their
habitat. The stubby, nocturnal nocturnal frogs spend most of their lives
in gopher tortoise burrows and are found almost exclusively in the
Coastal Plain?s longleaf pine ecosystem.