wildlife

Mountain lions are one of the great conservation success stories. Hunting once whittled their numbers down to a few thousand. But when they were re-classified as a game instead of vermin, they made a big comeback. But it's also led to more conflicts with humans.

A new book called the Cougar Conundrum: Sharing the World with a Successful Predator offers ideas for how to live with these big predators and how to better manage them. Wyoming Public Radio's Melodie Edwards chatted with author Mark Elbroch, the Director of Panthera's Puma project.

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon was in the nation's capital this week testifying about his desire to overhaul the Endangered Species Act. Correspondent Matt Laslo has the story on his testimony calling to upend that act - a message he delivered before Wyoming Senator John Barrasso's Environment and Public Works Committee.

"It all began with an incident that we had two years ago where we had an outfitter and his client that were involved in a grizzly attack," recalled Teton County Sheriff Matt Carr. His office was notified by the client who had fled the scene.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many have turned to the great outdoors in an effort to get out of their house but still stay away from people. And with more people out of work, it also helps to be able to fill the freezer. For some, stocking up on food during the pandemic means buying extra meat. For others, it means buying a hunting license and heading into the field. For Tylynn Smith from Laramie, it's her first time going hunting.

Swift foxes are reddish-brown, a bit smaller than a house cat, with big ears and a long tail. They do their best to sound intimidating when they're live-trapped, but they tend to be quite docile. They were historically found across the Great Plains region from Alberta, Canada down through the central part of the United States, but today, they're only in about 40 percent of that area.

It's the end of August, and I've joined a handful of biologists for an expedition in Grand Teton National Park in northwestern Wyoming.

The journey starts with a paddle across the north end of Jackson Lake to the mouth of a drainage. We ditch the canoe, pull on our neoprene socks, extend our trekking poles and start wading up a creek bed — ankle-deep in the cool water — in search of the elusive Harlequin duck.

It's a bright August morning in the northeast corner of Montana. Robbie Magnan, Game and Fish director for the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, rose before dawn to round up 40 buffalo into a corral.

If you're experiencing quarantine fatigue, these bulls can relate.

Millions of bison used to roam the west but by the early 1900's, only a couple dozen were left inside Yellowstone. That's because the animal was over-hunted by western settlers. Yellowstone Chris Geremia, the Yellowstone National Park bison coordinator, said decades were spent to recover the population.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is considering changes to laws and regulations surrounding trapping. This comes after some encounters that members of the public and pets have had with traps near public areas. Some want trapping near trails banned, and others say pets should always be leashed. A working group has looked into solutions. Lander Region Wildlife Supervisor Jason Hunter spoke with Bob Beck to discuss what they are proposing.

Originally from California, author Leslie Patten fell in love with Wyoming almost fifteen years ago and eventually made it her permanent home. The naturalist moved to a rustic cabin near Cody and became fascinated with the wildlife she saw right outside her door. Leslie Patten discusses writing, dogs, mountain lions, and moving from the most populated state to the least.

Her latest book Koda and the Wolves: Tales of a Red Dog is out now.

Ken Keffer grew up exploring the outdoors around his childhood home in Buffalo. The Wyomingite eventually turned his passion for nature into a career as an educator and author. Wyoming Public Radio's Megan Feighery spoke to him about his new book, Earth Almanac, birding, and his fondness for a unique creature.