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Show mmvmmmm.mm, ,m.rmmmwnmwm.umm. ,,, "V 'I 1 x ' W .1 S X ij ; r: Vr1 '-IX'U' A, ' ,, "-'' - ' ;.? ... r .A ; $ . . -.. A - v, , " 'V""V f J . v.V," . . : .,, ' " "' ' -' -. ' , :, V ' ' .- ' ' " "? ' t . ' ;;, ,... ' " ; .. v...,,- The Utah Prairie dog, currently on the endangered species list, is found only in Utah. The Division ol Wildlife Resources is attempting to improve its status by transplanting many of the animals to public lands (DWR photo by Al Heggen). UDWR to transplant Utah prairie dogs However, the plight of the Utah prairie dog is more closely related to poisoning, indiscriminate hunting and habitat loss during the twentieth century. But Heggen indicates that the prairie dog's situation has improved recently. There has been an increase in numbers during each of the last three years. The purpose of the transplanting tran-splanting program is not to restore the Utah prairie dog to all of its original range. Rather, the program will relocate dogs to parts of its historic range on Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and slate of Utah lands. The dogs will receive more protection on public land than on private land, where more than 50 percent of the animals live now. Heggen points out that the DWR is not trying to saturate the state with Utah prairie dogs. It is attempting, at-tempting, however, to establish a diversity of colonies on public lands that can be maintained for posterity. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources will transplant Utah prairie dogs this spring in several southern Utah counties. The Utah prairie dog is one of three species in the state. The larger white-tailed white-tailed prairie dog occupies the northeastern part of the state; the Zuni prairie dog, the southeastern. The Utah prairie dog is found in no other state and has received considerable attention in recent years because of its decreasing range in southern Utah. It was listed as an endangered species in 19G8, removed from that classification in 1970 and reclassified as endangered in 1973. "The status of the Utah prairie dog has been of some concern to us," says Al Heggen, chief of nongame mangement with the DWR. "We hope, through our management program, to remove it from the endangered en-dangered species list." Heggen points out that there is only one good guage for the success of the Endangered En-dangered Species Act, and that is removal of a species from the endangered list. The decline of the species has been significant. In 1920 there were approximately 95,000 Utah prairie dogs. Today, there are less than 7,000. Some losses can be attributed to natural cuases such as disease and drought. |