Gunnison Archives - Page 2 of 4

Should animal cognition be considered by lawmakers for conservation policies?

March 12, 2014 by PDP

Should animal cognition be considered by lawmakers for conservation policies? Many scientists believe it should.

The Humane Society Institute for Science & Policy is sponsoring a symposium next week in Washington, D.C., entitled “The Science of Animal Thinking and Emotion: Sentience as a Factor in Policy and Practice.”

Excerpt from the website:

Science is making stunning discoveries about animal cognition, awareness and emotion. How can we leverage this information for positive change in government and industry? This two-day conference brings together thought-leaders in the science and implications of animal sentience, and influential voices in the policy and corporate domains. As the bedrock of ethics, sentience deserves a more prominent place in the legislative and corporate landscape.

Identify a Prairie Dog!

February 13, 2014 by PDP

We need to raise $2500 to purchase microchips for the 2014 season; Just $50 buys 10 microchips!

Guardians Will Challenge Denial of Protections for Gunnison’s Prairie Dogs

January 2, 2014 by PDP

Washington, DC – WildEarth Guardians will challenge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) refusal to protect the Gunnison’s prairie dog under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Service recently denied the species protection despite a documented 95 percent decline since the early 1900s and numerous ongoing threats.

“Failure to list the Gunnison’s prairie dog is contrary to the letter and the spirit of the Act,” said Taylor Jones, Endangered Species Advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “The Service is tying itself in knots to avoid listing this keystone species, cherry picking science while ignoring the species’ precipitous decline.”

States test a new prairie dog plague vaccine

December 18, 2013 by PDP

Dressed in long pants, long-sleeve shirts and closed-toed shoes, a team of researchers from Colorado Parks and Wildlife gathered in a sagebrush-grass meadow near Gunnison, Colo. this summer, each with a GPS in hand. Lining up 10 meters apart along the border of a virtual grid, they walked straight lines over a Gunnison’s prairie dog colony and dropped quarter-sized peanut butter cubes behind them. It was one of three Gunnisons colonies where the delectable cubes became just a treat for any animal that found them, but at another three, the cubes contained a vaccine against sylvatic plague, which has ravaged the West’s prairie dog populations.

Prairie dog relocation costs evoke mixed reaction

December 16, 2013 by PDP

On farms and ranches across America, prairie dogs are target practice.

In the city of Santa Fe, the furry little critters get bubble baths, leftover Big Macs and protection under an ordinance requiring their “humane relocation” if they live on property slated for commercial construction.

Even the city government, which has a statue of its patron saint in front of City Hall making eye contact with a prairie dog, is loath to hurt the burrowing rodents.

Since the ordinance passed in 2001, the city has incurred $559,000 in relocation costs, much to the chagrin of one city councilor.