1 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: From Mediators World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This is 2 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:11,360 Speaker 1: Cal's weekend review, presented by Steel. Steel products are available 3 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:15,200 Speaker 1: only at authorized dealers. For more, go to Steel Dealers 4 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 1: dot com. Now here's your host, Ryan cal Callahan. Florida's 5 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted unanimously last week to 6 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:31,920 Speaker 1: reopen fishing for the goliath grouper as in catch and 7 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 1: keep fishing for the goliath grouper. If anybody's familiar with 8 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:39,159 Speaker 1: the goliath, you know that it is a fish that 9 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:42,480 Speaker 1: you cannot take out of the water, let alone put 10 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:46,319 Speaker 1: on the dinner table. Mature goliath groupers are about as 11 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:49,919 Speaker 1: large as a refrigerator, and they aren't afraid of anything 12 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: smaller than a shark. They also tend to gather in 13 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: high numbers at predictable locations. As you can imagine, those 14 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: traits made them very easy and desirable targets for fishermen 15 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: without any regulation on harvest. The population along the Florida 16 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,760 Speaker 1: coast declined in the nineteen fifties, and the species was 17 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: nearly wiped out by the time fishing was closed in 18 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 1: Now the question is has the goliath grouper population recovered 19 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: enough to warrant a new fishing season. The Florida Fish 20 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 1: and Wildlife Commission says yes. The rule they just approved 21 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:30,600 Speaker 1: allows for a limited, highly regulated harvest of up to 22 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: two hundred goliath per year, with harvest opportunities divvied out 23 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 1: lottery style, just like your special draw big game tags. 24 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 1: Only juvenile goliaths between twenty and thirty six inches will 25 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: be eligible for harvest, and all state waters will be 26 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: open except for a strip of coastline along the southeastern 27 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 1: tip of the state. The season would run from March 28 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 1: through May, which does not overlap with the fishes spawning season. 29 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: In additionnder the proposed rule, hook and line is the 30 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: only allowable gear, meaning no netting or spear fishing or dynamiting. 31 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:12,279 Speaker 1: Now you might be thinking, if the population has rebounded, 32 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: where's the controversy. Anglers complain that groupers often steal their catch, 33 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: and some argue that the fish are actually overpopulated and 34 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: harming the ecosystem. According to surveys done by the Florida 35 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,639 Speaker 1: Fish and Wildlife Commission, there will always be folks who 36 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 1: oppose hunting and fishing no matter how stable the population is. 37 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:35,079 Speaker 1: But the goliath is a tricky fish to count. Scientists 38 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: still aren't sure how long goliaths can live. There are 39 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 1: no long term data sets on landings, and there's a 40 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:46,520 Speaker 1: lack of information about populations outside the southeastern US. Most 41 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: scientists agree that the goliath is still regrouping get it, 42 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:54,079 Speaker 1: it's a grouper, but no one is quite sure how 43 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: much the population has recovered. Marine biologist Chris Koenig described 44 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,359 Speaker 1: the population as vote teetering on the edge in an 45 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: interview with NPR along with his wife, Florida State University's 46 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: Felicia Coleman. She believes that the adult population is actually declining. 47 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:16,360 Speaker 1: The golias recovery depends on the size of the reproductive population, 48 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 1: and if that population isn't growing, the species isn't ready 49 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,679 Speaker 1: to be harvested. The Florida Fish Wildlife Commission's proposed rule 50 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: attempts to circumvent the critique by only allowing harvest of 51 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: juvenile goliaths, which is the age class recovering most quickly. 52 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: These fish typically weigh between five and thirty two pounds 53 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: and are found in near shore environments prior to moving 54 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: offshore and maturing into adults. This twenty to thirty six 55 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 1: inch sized limit both protects the smallest fish, which are 56 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: most susceptible to natural mortality, as well as reproductive adults, 57 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: which are most crucial to a stable population. I don't 58 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:58,160 Speaker 1: know what the right answer is, but I do know this, 59 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: the goliath grouper is awesome and worth protecting. The largest 60 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: of the Atlantic groupers, Golias can reach up to eight 61 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 1: hundred pounds and grow to over eight feet in length. 62 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:11,760 Speaker 1: The Florida record is a six eighty pound group er 63 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:17,000 Speaker 1: caught off Fernandina Beach. In for some context, Adult male 64 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: grizzly bears usually wagh between three hundred and seven hundred 65 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:25,160 Speaker 1: pounds when they're not feeding or spawning. Adults are relatively sedentary, 66 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 1: even when approached by humans. There are tons of images 67 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: online of divers swimming right up to a huge grouper, 68 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,719 Speaker 1: touching it, even petting them, putting their fingers in their mouths, 69 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: which you know, frankly, I don't recommend. The golias bravery 70 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:43,160 Speaker 1: is understandable. When they're smaller, they're eaten by everything. When 71 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 1: they reach full size, they're only worries are humans and 72 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 1: extra large, extra motivated sharks. If you live in Florida, 73 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: don't think you can go out tomorrow and beg yourself 74 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: a goliath. The Florida Fish Wildlife Commission says the new 75 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,279 Speaker 1: groupers season won't begin until two thousand twenty three, and 76 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: they may change some regulations at their next meeting in 77 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 1: March before finalizing the rule. According to local Florida media, 78 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:11,040 Speaker 1: the Commission may consider increasing the minimum harvest size and 79 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: reducing the license feet. Right now, while Florida residents can 80 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,920 Speaker 1: enter the lottery for only ten dollars, a permit costs 81 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,400 Speaker 1: five hundred, which is almost a guided day of fishing 82 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: in Florida, or roughly at the top of the size 83 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: limit fourteen dollars a pound. This week we've got wolves, 84 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 1: avian malaria, and the endangered species list. But first I'm 85 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: gonna tell you about my week. And my week has 86 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 1: been spent in North Dakota. I joined Sean Weaver of 87 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,599 Speaker 1: the Meteator Crew and Matt Schannard of Delta Waterfowl. Matt 88 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: is a biologist who, amongst many other things, showed us 89 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: how to build and place hen houses which benefit Mallard 90 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 1: duck populations, which happens to be one of my favorite 91 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:57,159 Speaker 1: flying pieces of meat. A hen house, as they build 92 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: them is a seven foot piece of welded steel ash 93 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,239 Speaker 1: rolled with a thirty four inch inside diameter. Flax straw 94 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:07,279 Speaker 1: is placed inside the tube for bedding like imagine a 95 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: scar with tobacco falling out both fans. This is placed 96 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:14,679 Speaker 1: on a single pole stand above open water, about six 97 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: to ten ft from the nearest shoreline and anywhere from 98 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: three to five feet above the high water line. It 99 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: may take a season or two, but a hen mallard 100 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 1: will eventually investigate the structure and nest in it. Hen 101 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 1: Houses like this cost about fifty dollars in material and 102 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: keep the nest safe from egg eating predators like badgers, skunks, mink, 103 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: and yes, even your dog or house cat. In some 104 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: test areas, Delta has seen an increase in fecundity, which 105 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,279 Speaker 1: is a great word for the ability to produce offspring. 106 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 1: Their studies show an increase by over sixty in some marshes. 107 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:55,239 Speaker 1: After that, of course, we tried to kill some ducks 108 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:58,160 Speaker 1: for the table, which we did. We got a few ducks, 109 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: some speckled belly geese, and some of the largest Canada 110 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: geese I've ever seen. We weighed the lightest one at 111 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 1: over fourteen pounds I was able to break my curse 112 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 1: in regards to never having killed a speckled belly goose, 113 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:13,760 Speaker 1: which is a nasty curse, as those geese are not 114 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: only incredible acrobats, super fun to watch, but very tasty. 115 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,240 Speaker 1: And we were invited to join in on a sandhill 116 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: crane shoot, which is something I have always wanted to do. 117 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: The morning was hammering rain forty degrees winds gusting from 118 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: fifteen to thirty miles per hour, and the cranes did 119 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:36,160 Speaker 1: not come, which is honestly exactly what I was expecting. However, 120 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:38,600 Speaker 1: after you get up three thirty in the morning, drive 121 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: an hour and unloaded can am and shuttle gear and 122 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 1: guys and guns across mud for a few hours, you 123 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: don't just shrug your shoulders and go home. You waited 124 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 1: out and try to watch the bird activity through the 125 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: horizontal rain, and it's a good thing we did. Once 126 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:57,880 Speaker 1: the crane started flying, we were in the middle of them, 127 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 1: which is an amazing experience. These birds have wingspans between 128 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 1: five and six and a half feet. Additionally, when I 129 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 1: was growing up in Montana, cranes were not all that common. 130 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:13,080 Speaker 1: Their numbers have rebounded from habitat loss and unregulated hunting 131 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: incredibly well, just in my lifetime. This is a bird 132 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,200 Speaker 1: that is in the fossil record dating back at least 133 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:25,239 Speaker 1: two point five million years. But we're largely extirpated east 134 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,440 Speaker 1: of the Mississippi and dwindled to possibly as few as 135 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: a thousand individuals west of the Mississippi. Currently, lesser sandhill 136 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: cranes are estimated at over four hundred thousand individuals and 137 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: greater sandhill crans at one hundred thousand. Remember that pesky 138 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:46,840 Speaker 1: thing I was talking about the Recovering America's Grasslands Act 139 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: mentioned that a few weeks ago. Well, as I have 140 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:52,079 Speaker 1: told you before, grasslands or where a lot of our 141 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 1: wetland oriented birds do their nesting gad Wallwidge and Mallard teal. 142 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: Remember the Clean Water Act, those intermittent wetland and prairie potholes. Well, 143 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:04,680 Speaker 1: a lot of where we had success in North Dakota 144 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 1: was dry until the rains came. Still not what people 145 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 1: think of when we think wetlands, but it's that cycle 146 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:15,960 Speaker 1: of drying out and then filling up that keep the 147 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 1: birds fed and consequently, if you're so inclined yourself, geese cranes, 148 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: duck tastes good. And I know this is way too 149 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:30,320 Speaker 1: brief of mentioned the snort report. This ear is not 150 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 1: going to heal up with hunting, that is very apparent 151 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: to me. But the dog is doing very well. She 152 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 1: did go into heat this week, which is like dog 153 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: on her talk for a lady being receptive, I suppose 154 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 1: she is largely the same, but her attention span is 155 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: a little different. I would say. Anyway, she retrieved a 156 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 1: bunch of birds. That wouldn't say her discipline was awesome. 157 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:00,079 Speaker 1: We had a lot of fun in North Dakota. Moving on, 158 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: it's been busy at the wolf desk. Here's a quote 159 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: for you. Instead of calling the authorities, I just took 160 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:12,160 Speaker 1: the wolf. These are the words of fifty six year 161 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:15,600 Speaker 1: old Lane Bunner of Casper, Wyoming, speaking of the Jackson 162 00:10:15,679 --> 00:10:18,080 Speaker 1: Whole News and Guide after being sentenced this month for 163 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:21,000 Speaker 1: poaching a male gray wolf back in two thousand seventeen. 164 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 1: Call me gullible, but Bunner comes across as a pretty 165 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,680 Speaker 1: candid individual, and I believe him when he says he 166 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:30,200 Speaker 1: did not wake up seven days prior to the legal 167 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: hunting season and poach a wolf. Apparently, as Bunner was 168 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:37,200 Speaker 1: preparing for an ol cunt. The wolf in question appeared 169 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:40,520 Speaker 1: and went after his Jack Russell terrier. He dispatched the 170 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: wolf to save his dog from there. However, Bunner's decision 171 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 1: making got harder to sympathize with. Instead of calling the warden, 172 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:51,439 Speaker 1: he cut the GPS tracking color off the wolf's neck, 173 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 1: tossed it aside, loaded the carcass into his truck, drove home, 174 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 1: skinned the animal, then discarded the rest of the body 175 00:10:57,559 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 1: except for the skull. Bunner waited two weeks until wolf 176 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: season was well underway, then reported a legal harvest. He 177 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:08,160 Speaker 1: brought the pelt and skull into fishing game per Wyoming regulation, 178 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:10,880 Speaker 1: and a warden and a biologist registered the kill and 179 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: took a DNA sample. In two thousand twenty, Wyoming Game 180 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:18,320 Speaker 1: and Fish biologist Ken Mills had the idea that the 181 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:22,040 Speaker 1: agency had a complete DNA record on all wolves reported 182 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:24,839 Speaker 1: during hunting season and all the wolves that had been 183 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: collared and then gone missing with a suspicion of being poshed, 184 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: so why not run a comparison between the two sets. Coincidentally, 185 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:37,160 Speaker 1: Mills was the person who had also found the tracking 186 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 1: collar that Bunner had discarded. Wouldn't you know it. The 187 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 1: DNA of Bunner's wolf matched that of ten eight m 188 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:46,680 Speaker 1: and Mayo, born in two thousand sixteen, who had been 189 00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 1: collared and sampled in January of seventeen. This wolf was 190 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:53,200 Speaker 1: part of the Phantom Springs pack living in Wyoming's Grand 191 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:56,760 Speaker 1: Teton National Park. Bunner ended up having to pay just 192 00:11:56,840 --> 00:12:00,280 Speaker 1: over three thousand dollars and fines in restitution and having 193 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:04,480 Speaker 1: his hunting privileges revoked for four years. Bunner's expression of 194 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:09,320 Speaker 1: regret also seemed genuine to me. Here that is hunting 195 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:11,880 Speaker 1: is my heart and soul, and it's why I live 196 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:14,960 Speaker 1: in this state. I'll be an old man and crippled 197 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: up before him ever able to do that again. Well, 198 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:21,320 Speaker 1: if it's your heart and soul, yeah, I can't do 199 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:24,520 Speaker 1: things by the book anyway. I talked about this all 200 00:12:24,559 --> 00:12:26,640 Speaker 1: the time. But the thing to do right is called 201 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:29,560 Speaker 1: the game Warden. Explain what happened, and it's not gonna 202 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,040 Speaker 1: go nearly as bad as it will if the game 203 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:36,920 Speaker 1: Warden calls you. But here's a crazily similar case that 204 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:41,599 Speaker 1: has a different outcome. In the state Idaho, a nonresident 205 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: hunter killed a wolf without a wolf tag. Sometime later, 206 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:47,559 Speaker 1: that out of state hunter sent that wolf to a 207 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:50,680 Speaker 1: tax or I must with a valid wolf tag two 208 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:55,760 Speaker 1: years after the fact this Utahn Brian j Call was caught. 209 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:59,840 Speaker 1: His penalty was one hours of community service, a five 210 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:03,199 Speaker 1: under dollar fine, and one year of probation with no 211 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:09,080 Speaker 1: loss of hunting privileges. Oddly similar cases, but for the outcomes. 212 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:14,560 Speaker 1: And what's a butt for you? Ask for pooping? Silly? 213 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:18,040 Speaker 1: That's a stolen joke from the original South Park movie 214 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 1: satire genius, but really not the point here. Good. Here 215 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:29,680 Speaker 1: are some headlines. Three Yellowstone wolves killed during first week 216 00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 1: of Montana's hunting season. If they're not in Yellowstone, are 217 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:38,040 Speaker 1: the Yellowstone wolves? Native American tribes to Wisconsin to stop 218 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 1: planned gray wolf hunt. Federal officials to review protections for 219 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:46,800 Speaker 1: wolves in the West. But you know, to be honest, 220 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:50,840 Speaker 1: I'm tired of wolves as political football, and I'm annoyed 221 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,360 Speaker 1: that another very important wolf story gets no play in 222 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 1: the national press because there's no political theater around it. 223 00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:00,559 Speaker 1: According to a new study in the journal Biological Observation, 224 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:03,440 Speaker 1: the population of red wolves in the US is down 225 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,559 Speaker 1: to just seven individuals in one wild population in northeast 226 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 1: North Carolina. That's right, not seventeen, not seventy, but seven. 227 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,600 Speaker 1: Where are the New Jersey cat ladies raising hell about this? 228 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 1: Red wolves or Canus rufus, are distinct from Canus loopus 229 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,200 Speaker 1: or gray wolves. Their bodies are smaller, but their legs 230 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 1: and ears are longer proportionately for their size, as implied 231 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:30,840 Speaker 1: by their name. They're tawnier than gray wolves, but they 232 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 1: aren't read the way you think of a red as 233 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:36,520 Speaker 1: like a fox's read. At their peak, the range of 234 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 1: red wolves extended all across the southern US, out to 235 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 1: central Texas to the west, and up to Illinois to 236 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:46,000 Speaker 1: the north. Then they had a tough couple hundred years, 237 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:50,960 Speaker 1: with government funded predator elimination programs, rampant habitat loss across 238 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:54,320 Speaker 1: their range, and interbreeding with coyotes in places where they 239 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:58,240 Speaker 1: had few other reproductive options. Things got so bad that 240 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 1: US Asian Wildlife captured the last seventeen known red wolves 241 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:07,520 Speaker 1: and the species was declared extinct in the wild. But then, 242 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:13,080 Speaker 1: through serious federal, state, and nonprofit efforts, those seventeen wolves 243 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:17,680 Speaker 1: were kept alive and successfully bred. Eight wolves born in 244 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 1: captivity were released into the wild in the Alligator River 245 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:24,600 Speaker 1: National Wildlife Refuge, which is out on the Albermarle Palmlico 246 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:28,120 Speaker 1: Peninsula in eastern North Carolina. Believe me if I butchered 247 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:31,920 Speaker 1: the name the emails asked Cal at the Meteor dot Com, 248 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:35,640 Speaker 1: just right in, I expect you. This kind of reintroduction 249 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 1: program is responsible for many of the species we could 250 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:42,480 Speaker 1: hardly imagine life without today, such as the American bison, 251 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: the big horn sheep in Oregon, the bald eagle, the 252 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,120 Speaker 1: wild turkey in a lot of places, Elk back East 253 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:51,040 Speaker 1: and Tennessee and North Carolina, as well as our friends 254 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 1: blackfoot ferret, which we told you about long time ago. 255 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 1: But the red wolf reintroduction was the first ever attempted 256 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 1: for a large predator, and no one knew how was 257 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 1: going to go. By late two thousand six, their numbers 258 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:06,080 Speaker 1: were up to a one hundred and thirty individuals from 259 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 1: that original seventeen, which is pretty neat. But the increase 260 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:13,880 Speaker 1: in population from a relatively unknown at that point predator 261 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:17,200 Speaker 1: created friction with landowners in the area, as the wolves 262 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:21,080 Speaker 1: were thought to be keeping deer numbers low. After several lawsuits, 263 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 1: US Fish and Wildlife halted reintroduction, as well as coyote 264 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:29,000 Speaker 1: sterilization programs that were credited with protecting the red wolves 265 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:33,760 Speaker 1: gene pool. Now, after an underreported rash of red wolf poaching, 266 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:37,560 Speaker 1: we are left with only seven individuals in the wild. 267 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:41,800 Speaker 1: You know, to some degree, I get it. Red wolves 268 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 1: don't look as impressive as gray wolves. Their precise definition 269 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:47,640 Speaker 1: is a little hard to understand. At their peak, they 270 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:50,480 Speaker 1: probably knocked back deer numbers. They sort of blend in 271 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:53,600 Speaker 1: with coyotes. Game of Thrones didn't build the whole plots 272 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: around their mid sized red wolf. No tourists are getting 273 00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:59,080 Speaker 1: t shirts with the screen print of a red wolf 274 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 1: howling at the moon. But if I could just borrow 275 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,959 Speaker 1: one tenth of the outrage that surrounds the gray wolf, 276 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: which is doing just fine, we could get people invested 277 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:11,000 Speaker 1: in making sure the red wolf doesn't join the other 278 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 1: twenty two species that US Fish and Wildlife just declare distinct. 279 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 1: It is not that I have any special love for 280 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:21,480 Speaker 1: the animal itself. It's just that I know we, as 281 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:25,240 Speaker 1: the dominant noxious species on the planet with the oversized 282 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:28,159 Speaker 1: thumbs and heavy brains, have the ability to do something 283 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:32,760 Speaker 1: about a species dying off forever under our watch. So 284 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:36,919 Speaker 1: shouldn't we or do you think it's a giant waste 285 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:40,440 Speaker 1: time and money and it just creates more conflict. We 286 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 1: should save our powder for the next big fight, something 287 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:47,320 Speaker 1: more important. People don't know the red Wolf Again, there's 288 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:50,879 Speaker 1: no T shirt. Should our efforts go elsewhere? It's a 289 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:54,680 Speaker 1: good and valid question. But do you at home or 290 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:57,119 Speaker 1: in the car listening want to be the person to 291 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:01,439 Speaker 1: answer that question. So maybe one day future Paul Harvey 292 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:05,280 Speaker 1: type could say, on this day in history, I don't 293 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 1: want that to be my legacy. Next up the biodiversity desk. 294 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:15,359 Speaker 1: Last month, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed delisting 295 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 1: twenty three endangered species. These species should be delisted, the 296 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:23,880 Speaker 1: Service says, because they've gone extinct. In a press release, 297 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 1: the agency blames a variety of human related factors for 298 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:32,040 Speaker 1: the decline, including climate change, habitat loss, overuse, and the 299 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: introduction of invasive species and disease. The plants and animals 300 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:41,080 Speaker 1: tagged for extinct status include eleven birds, eight freshwater muscles, 301 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 1: to fish, a bat, and a plant. The birds include 302 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:49,800 Speaker 1: the ivory billed woodpecker, Bachmann's warbler, and the Pauli of Hawaii. 303 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:52,600 Speaker 1: Remember that's a s k C. A l at the 304 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 1: manor dot com. Each of these twenty three species represents 305 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,520 Speaker 1: a permanent loss to our nation's natural heritage and a 306 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:03,119 Speaker 1: global biodiversity Bridget Fahey of the U s. Fish and 307 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:06,679 Speaker 1: Wildlife Service told The New York Times quote, it's a 308 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:10,640 Speaker 1: sobering reminder that extinction is a consequence of human caused 309 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:15,199 Speaker 1: environmental change. This is sobering news. But here's a little context. 310 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 1: All of these species except one muscle variety, were listed 311 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:22,399 Speaker 1: as endangered in the sixties, seventies, or eighties. Most have 312 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:25,560 Speaker 1: not had a confirmed sighting in the last forty years, 313 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:28,760 Speaker 1: and some haven't been seen since the eighteen hundreds. In 314 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,359 Speaker 1: other words, these aren't species that have seen a rapid 315 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:36,120 Speaker 1: decline due to environmental harms of recent decades. Like you 316 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:40,240 Speaker 1: probably didn't do this, but you know, maybe somebody in 317 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: your family did. As the Fish and Wildlife Service says, 318 00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:45,760 Speaker 1: most of these species were simply added to the Endangered 319 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:50,640 Speaker 1: Species Act too late. Most were either extinct, functionally extinct, 320 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: or in steep decline at the time of listing. Some 321 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:58,200 Speaker 1: folks might use that as the Endangered Species Act doesn't 322 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: work argument, but not so fast. Fish and Wildlife reports 323 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:04,680 Speaker 1: that the ESA has been successful at preventing the extinction 324 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 1: of more than of species listed. In total, fifty four 325 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:12,639 Speaker 1: species have been delisted from the essay due to recovery, 326 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: and another fifty six have been downlisted from endangered to threatened. 327 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: Hunters have benefitted from and often aided, this conservation work. 328 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:25,240 Speaker 1: The American alligator was listed as endangered in nineteen sixty seven, 329 00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:28,480 Speaker 1: but the species recovered in the nineteen eighties, and today 330 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:32,520 Speaker 1: hunters enjoy harvesting the reptile throughout the South. Gray wolves 331 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:36,240 Speaker 1: are among the most famously recovered endangered animals, and today's 332 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:40,360 Speaker 1: several states offer limited wolf hunts. Don't you know This 333 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:42,199 Speaker 1: is not to say that we should have been saving 334 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:44,640 Speaker 1: species just so we can hunt them, But if you're 335 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,439 Speaker 1: skeptical of the ESSA, keep in mind that it doesn't 336 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:51,399 Speaker 1: only benefit the animal rights crowd. This latest extinction news 337 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:54,160 Speaker 1: should also remind us that our work is far from over. 338 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 1: Our nation's animal and plant species are threatened by a 339 00:20:57,359 --> 00:20:59,960 Speaker 1: wide array of dangers, including one you may not be 340 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:04,439 Speaker 1: familiar with, avian malaria. If you look again at that 341 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:07,439 Speaker 1: list of extinct species, you'll notice that eight of the 342 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: eleven birds hail from Hawaii. There's a reason for that. 343 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,360 Speaker 1: Over the last twenty years or so, native Hawaiian birds 344 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:19,320 Speaker 1: have been slammed by malaria, and the danger is far 345 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 1: from over. If anything, it's getting worse. According to my 346 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:28,480 Speaker 1: friend and us GS ecologist Bob Reid, mosquitoes arrived with 347 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:32,119 Speaker 1: the Europeans as early as eighteen and the parasite that 348 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:36,400 Speaker 1: causes malaria arrived sometime after nineteen hundred. Soon after that, 349 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: these birds just started tanking. Bob told me. Native Hawaiian 350 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:45,359 Speaker 1: birds haven't evolved any resistance to avian malaria, and the 351 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:49,359 Speaker 1: models predict that will lose twelve additional species by the 352 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:53,520 Speaker 1: year twenty one hundred if we can't solve this problem. 353 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 1: For some species, climate change has shortened the timeline even further. 354 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:02,280 Speaker 1: Mosquitoes can't survive temperatures. As you may know, so many 355 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:06,160 Speaker 1: birds move higher in elevation to colder temps, but as 356 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:10,560 Speaker 1: temperatures warm, mosquitoes also move higher. Some of the Hawaiian 357 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:13,359 Speaker 1: islands feature mountains tall enough to give birds a place 358 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:16,320 Speaker 1: to escape, but some are so low that the mosquitoes 359 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 1: will soon reach the highest point on the island. Read 360 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:23,200 Speaker 1: warned that three bird species may be functionally extinct within 361 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 1: the next two years. One of those species only has 362 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:30,480 Speaker 1: a maximum of three years, one has five, one has ten. 363 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:34,160 Speaker 1: For context, there were about fifty six species of land 364 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:37,200 Speaker 1: birds in Hawaii prior to the arrival of the Polynesians, 365 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:40,080 Speaker 1: twenty of which were already lost by the time the 366 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:44,440 Speaker 1: Europeans arrived. Today, there are only twenty one forest bird 367 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:48,359 Speaker 1: species on the Hawaiian islands. In other words, we're looking 368 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:51,679 Speaker 1: at the extinction of more than fifty percent of Hawaii's 369 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:55,720 Speaker 1: remaining forest birds in the next eighty years. You're probably 370 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,959 Speaker 1: wondering what we're doing about this potential catastrophe. Good question. 371 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:04,000 Speaker 1: Traditional insecticide won't work in this situation. It would kill 372 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,760 Speaker 1: a lot of the insects birds need to eat. One 373 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:11,200 Speaker 1: possible solution would be to insert bacteria into male mosquitoes. 374 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: This would cause all eggs fertilized by these males to 375 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:18,520 Speaker 1: be infertile, which would decrease the overall population. Unfortunately, this 376 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:21,879 Speaker 1: would only be a stop gap measure. Other scientists are 377 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:25,080 Speaker 1: working on identifying genes and birds that have developed resistance 378 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:28,920 Speaker 1: to malaria. Theoretically, we could insert these genes into other 379 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:33,480 Speaker 1: populations and give them some resistance. Another solution would be 380 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,359 Speaker 1: to study the microbiomes of these birds to develop a 381 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:41,359 Speaker 1: malaria resistant probiotic therapy. This therapy could be administered in 382 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:44,639 Speaker 1: bird feeders and would allow species to continue to exist 383 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:49,800 Speaker 1: on lower elevation islands. Good old fashioned translocation has been 384 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:53,479 Speaker 1: suggested as well. Each of these solutions, if you can 385 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:56,879 Speaker 1: call them, that, take time, but time is exactly what 386 00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:00,200 Speaker 1: we don't have. This is an immediate need. Dr ob 387 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: says we need to get everything moving now in order 388 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:05,919 Speaker 1: to have a chance at saving these first three species. 389 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,400 Speaker 1: It's a big deal. Scientists like read are working as 390 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:13,000 Speaker 1: fast as they can, but they're not just fighting mosquitoes, rats, 391 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:15,840 Speaker 1: and cats are a big threat to ground nesting birds, 392 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: and the habitats of some species have been wiped out 393 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,320 Speaker 1: by volcanoes and hurricanes. Right now, all we can do 394 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:24,920 Speaker 1: is support the folks working to crack the malaria code 395 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:27,440 Speaker 1: and hope that these birds survived to the long end 396 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:32,280 Speaker 1: of their predicted extinction timeline. For more information on the 397 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:35,960 Speaker 1: ESA or avian malaria, visit the U s G S. 398 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:39,520 Speaker 1: That's all I've got for you this week. Thanks for listening. 399 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:44,400 Speaker 1: Remember it's hunting season. If you need a trusty, dependable, 400 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:48,880 Speaker 1: hard work and clean, quiet, battery operated chainsaw, or a 401 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:51,200 Speaker 1: set of heads trimmers like we were using to knock 402 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 1: down some brush to code our blinds. Check out steal 403 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:59,080 Speaker 1: Dealers dot com and find a local, knowledgeable steel dealer 404 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:03,040 Speaker 1: near you, and most importantly, right in to a s 405 00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:05,399 Speaker 1: k c a L. Let's ask how at the Meteor 406 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:07,639 Speaker 1: dot com and let me know what's going on in 407 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,360 Speaker 1: your neck of the woods. Thanks for listening, and I'll 408 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 1: talk to you next week.