Latest news with #NationalWildlifeFederation
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Researchers uncover wildfire protection strategy hiding in plain sight — and it starts with an overlooked species
Beavers are offering forests unexpected protection against wildfires. By bolstering beaver habitats, scientists have found they can prevent parts of the environment from being scorched. A new study shows that beaver dams and the wetlands they create were the only features to survive an incinerated landscape in the wake of recent wildfires in Colorado. In 2020, the East Troublesome Fire became the second-largest wildfire in the state's history, burning nearly 200,000 acres and taking more than a month to contain. While assessing the damage from the fire, wildlife managers reported that only beaver ponds were untouched. Beavers are incredible creatures, building dams to create their own habitat. The semiaquatic rodents block off streams to pool water into ponds and develop wetlands where they can build homes. The water, of course, is not flammable and offers protection against an increasing number of wildfires. Researchers studied five fires from 2000 to 2018. In their findings, they reported that beaver ponds and canals thoroughly irrigate the surrounding land, turning dry, flammable vegetation into lush landscape. Not only did the plants survive, but the green space provided refuge to livestock and wildlife. Wildfires impact human communities in a number of ways. Smoke inhalation increases the risk of heart attack and stroke while reducing the body's immunity. Wildfires also have an effect on mental health, causing trauma when a person is exposed to danger and loss. Wildlife managers are looking for ways to support beaver populations. It's estimated that while there were once 100 to 200 million beavers across North America, today's numbers sit around 10 to 15 million. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is focusing on habitat restoration. In 2018, the National Wildlife Federation adopted a resolution to support beaver restoration as a response to the changing climate. Beavers are often called nature's engineers. Their ingenuity could be the answer to surviving in a world with an ever-changing climate. What would you do if natural disasters were threatening your home? Move somewhere else Reinforce my home Nothing This is happening already Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Mountain hikers spot rare herd of animals outside Los Angeles
A group of hikers in the San Gabriel Mountains recently encountered a rare sighting: a large family of bighorn sheep. As seen in images posted by the Instagram account @lahikes on May 29, hikers discovered the herd of shy and elusive creatures nestled in the forest north of Los Angeles. Environmentalists said that to find so many bighorn sheep at one time is very rare, and the social media post explained the sighting as 'a difficult phenomenon to capture.' 'As we sat there for over half an hour watching these animals do their thing on the cliffs opposite of ours, it was a treat to capture,' read the post's caption. 'They usually stick together for protection,' explained the post's slideshow. 'Males are seen with the large curved horns and overlook the tribe.' The images showed and explained how the bighorn sheep family was grazing by clinging to the precipitous mountainside with their hooves. According to the National Wildlife Federation, the animal's outer hooves are 'modified toenails shaped to snag any slight protrusion, while a soft inner pad provides a grip that conforms to each variable surface.' The federation's website adds, 'Although not as agile as mountain goats, bighorn sheep are well-equipped for climbing the steep terrain that keeps their predators at bay.' This species of sheep typically lives in rugged, mountainous terrain in the Rocky Mountain National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon National Park and, apparently, in L.A.'s backyard as well. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Drive
2 days ago
- General
- The Drive
World's Largest Wildlife Bridge Spanning 10 Lanes of 101 Freeway Is Nearly Complete
The latest car news, reviews, and features. Three years after construction began, it's time to dump dirt on the project. Specifically, 6,000 cubic yards of a 'super' soil followed by the planting of 5,000 native flora. I'm talking about the world's largest wildlife crossing, which has reached another construction milestone as the bridge nears completion. This prepared soil is the beginning of the end of construction for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, which broke ground on Earth Day in 2022. Located in Agoura Hills, California, the nearly one-acre overpass stretches over a 10-lane section of U.S. 101. The physical bridge structure is essentially complete, having required 26 million pounds of concrete, Beth Pratt of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) told KCAL . The NWF Regional Executive Director added, 'We just put the soil on top, and then we start burying utility lines and extend it over the access road.' Multiple layers of soil will be needed to create a wildlife habitat on the overpass, and the soil application alone will take several weeks. However, when the Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is done, the bridge will reconnect the bisected areas of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. With more than 150,000 acres, SMMNRA is the country's largest urban national park. But the freeways have long isolated the local fauna, from butterflies and cottontails to bobcats and mountain lions. According to the project, as far back as the 1980s, researchers identified the Liberty Canyon area as a choke point for wildlife. However, it wasn't until the National Park Service began a decades-long study of the region's mountain lion population that the 101 freeway was deemed 'the most significant barrier to the ecological health of the region.' More than 300,000 vehicles travel along U.S. 101 daily. That's enough traffic to give a driver anxiety—try being a local critter having to dart across the road just to find dinner. P-22, arguably the most famous mountain lion in and outside of Hollywood, surprised everyone by crossing freeways on his own. He eventually became the poster cat for the 'Save L.A. cougars' campaign. Unfortunately, he was euthanized in late 2022 after being found with severe injuries, likely due to a vehicle collision, and a myriad of other health issues. Mountain lions are the main conservation focus of this wildlife bridge. The big cats are territorial, and being locked in by freeways limits their roaming range and biodiversity. Without the crossing to expand their habitat, SoCal cougars could be extinct within 50 years. They also continue to be killed by vehicles. 'In the Liberty Canyon area where we're putting the crossing, within the last four years, we've had four mountain lions killed just in that general area,' Pratt said. Not just providing access to more sources of food, shelter, and mates, but the bridge would also offer an escape route from wildfires and other disasters. The Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is expected to reach completion next year.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Zombie moose': As climate change shortens winters, ticks ravage New England's moose population
A bull moose grazes in New Hampshire during the spring. (Photo by) Every fall, winter ticks in New England sit on shrubs or other plants waiting for a large animal to pass by so they can latch on and begin sucking out blood. This has a huge impact on the area's moose, wildlife biologists say. 'They basically become zombies and die,' Eric Orff, a New Hampshire-based wildlife biologist, said. 'We have zombie moose.' According to estimates from New Hampshire Fish and Game, the Granite State's moose population peaked in the late 1990s at around 7,000 to 8,000 moose. It has since declined to roughly 3,000 to 4,000. Most tick species move from host to host frequently, but winter ticks find a moose, deer, or other animal around November and extract their blood for the entirety of winter. And it's not just one or a couple ticks on each host. Rather, hundreds or thousands of ticks often latch onto a host. This is a process called questing and it has a huge effect on moose, particularly calves. 'April is the month of death for calves,' Orff, who works as a field biologist at the National Wildlife Federation and serves as vice president of the New Hampshire Wildlife Federation, said. 'The adult ticks are feeding one more time before they fall off and they basically drain the moose's supply of blood.' Around April, the female ticks fall off their hosts to lay their eggs. If they land on snow as opposed to dry land, the eggs are less fruitful. However, as climate change represses winter weather, tick populations have boomed. 'Over the last 20 years, instead of one winter out of six or eight or 10 being truncated, now, a majority of them are,' Orff said. 'So what has been found in more recent moose studies, including those done in New Hampshire and in Maine and Vermont the last two decades, is that it really significantly impacts the moose calves born that previous spring.' While adult moose are better able to fend off the tick infestations, he said, 70% of calves don't make it to 1 year old. And this also affects adult female moose. Orff, who has been studying moose and other wildlife for decades, said that when he and his colleagues began this research in the 1980s, nearly all older female moose gave birth to two calves. Now, he said, less than half the females even become pregnant. He said this is a result of being underweight from the ticks, but also because climate change is making summers warmer, which results in them eating less. Underweight moose are less likely to give birth. 'It's really a double whammy,' he said. A third factor, he said, is that south of the White Mountains brain worms have proliferated. While moose populations have plummeted, white-tail deer populations have nearly tripled from about 40,000 in the early 1980s to around 100,000 to 120,000 in the southern half of the state due to milder winters, he said. Brain worms are common in deer, and while those brain worms don't harm the deer, they can be fatal to moose. Orff noted the economic costs of lower moose populations. He said people used to travel to the North Country specifically to see the moose. 'Moose viewing in New Hampshire for a period of years was a $10-million-a-year industry,' he said. 'I don't know if there's any companies that still do it. I think there are. But you used to be able to go out and, in a night, see a dozen or a half dozen moose at least. Now they may go several hours and see no moose.' These die-offs also cause ecological issues. Henry Jones, moose project leader for Fish and Game, said moose carcasses serve as a food source for scavengers, which are seeing rising numbers in the wake of this population collapse. Jones said the past two years have been particularly severe for tick infestations. To address this, the state is issuing more hunting permits. Jones said tick populations rise when the moose population has high density. By killing off moose, the survivors fare better, he said. The state is also working with the University of New Hampshire to study the conditions in which ticks proliferate best. Jones said this is all about 'keeping them from getting really high density and causing this kind of cyclic relationship of lots of tick mortality.' However, the hunting strategy still results in dead moose and low populations. Orff noted the conundrum. 'I guess that's the debate,' Orff said. 'Is it better to have far fewer moose and less sickly moose? … Baby moose who drop dead from no blood in April or taking some of them out that will be utilized by hunters eating them?' Jones said the state is acting based on the wishes of citizens. 'We did a public survey to understand what the residents want with the moose population in 2024,' Jones said. 'People want there to be the same or more moose, but they don't want there to be more moose if they're unhealthy.' Still, Orff said none of these are a true solution to the overall problem. Moose will continue dying, he said, until we put an end to humans' warming of the planet. This story was originally published by New Hampshire Bulletin. Like Maine Morning Star, New Hampshire Bulletin is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Hampshire Bulletin maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Dana Wormald for questions: info@ SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Zombie moose': As climate change shortens winters, ticks ravage New Hampshire's moose population
A bull moose grazes in New Hampshire during the spring. (Photo by) Every fall, winter ticks in New England sit on shrubs or other plants waiting for a large animal to pass by so they can latch on and begin sucking out blood. This has a huge impact on the area's moose, wildlife biologists say. 'They basically become zombies and die,' Eric Orff, a New Hampshire-based wildlife biologist, said. 'We have zombie moose.' According to estimates from New Hampshire Fish and Game, the Granite State's moose population peaked in the late 1990s at around 7,000 to 8,000 moose. It has since declined to roughly 3,000 to 4,000. Most tick species move from host to host frequently, but winter ticks find a moose, deer, or other animal around November and extract their blood for the entirety of winter. And it's not just one or a couple ticks on each host. Rather, hundreds or thousands of ticks often latch onto a host. This is a process called questing and it has a huge effect on moose, particularly calves. 'April is the month of death for calves,' Orff, who works as a field biologist at the National Wildlife Federation and serves as vice president of the New Hampshire Wildlife Federation, said. 'The adult ticks are feeding one more time before they fall off and they basically drain the moose's supply of blood.' Around April, the female ticks fall off their hosts to lay their eggs. If they land on snow as opposed to dry land, the eggs are less fruitful. However, as climate change represses winter weather, tick populations have boomed. 'Over the last 20 years, instead of one winter out of six or eight or 10 being truncated, now, a majority of them are,' Orff said. 'So what has been found in more recent moose studies, including those done in New Hampshire and in Maine and Vermont the last two decades, is that it really significantly impacts the moose calves born that previous spring.' While adult moose are better able to fend off the tick infestations, he said, 70% of calves don't make it to 1 year old. And this also affects adult female moose. Orff, who has been studying moose and other wildlife for decades, said that when he and his colleagues began this research in the 1980s, nearly all older female moose gave birth to two calves. Now, he said, less than half the females even become pregnant. He said this is a result of being underweight from the ticks, but also because climate change is making summers warmer, which results in them eating less. Underweight moose are less likely to give birth. 'It's really a double whammy,' he said. A third factor, he said, is that south of the White Mountains brain worms have proliferated. While moose populations have plummeted, white-tail deer populations have nearly tripled from about 40,000 in the early 1980s to around 100,000 to 120,000 in the southern half of the state due to milder winters, he said. Brain worms are common in deer, and while those brain worms don't harm the deer, they can be fatal to moose. Orff noted the economic costs of lower moose populations. He said people used to travel to the North Country specifically to see the moose. 'Moose viewing in New Hampshire for a period of years was a $10-million-a-year industry,' he said. 'I don't know if there's any companies that still do it. I think there are. But you used to be able to go out and, in a night, see a dozen or a half dozen moose at least. Now they may go several hours and see no moose.' These die-offs also cause ecological issues. Henry Jones, moose project leader for Fish and Game, said moose carcasses serve as a food source for scavengers, which are seeing rising numbers in the wake of this population collapse. Jones said the past two years have been particularly severe for tick infestations. To address this, the state is issuing more hunting permits. Jones said tick populations rise when the moose population has high density. By killing off moose, the survivors fare better, he said. The state is also working with the University of New Hampshire to study the conditions in which ticks proliferate best. Jones said this is all about 'keeping them from getting really high density and causing this kind of cyclic relationship of lots of tick mortality.' However, the hunting strategy still results in dead moose and low populations. Orff noted the conundrum. 'I guess that's the debate,' Orff said. 'Is it better to have far fewer moose and less sickly moose? … Baby moose who drop dead from no blood in April or taking some of them out that will be utilized by hunters eating them?' Jones said the state is acting based on the wishes of citizens. 'We did a public survey to understand what the residents want with the moose population in 2024,' Jones said. 'People want there to be the same or more moose, but they don't want there to be more moose if they're unhealthy.' Still, Orff said none of these are a true solution to the overall problem. Moose will continue dying, he said, until we put an end to humans' warming of the planet.
