Wildlife Ecology Institute

Black-footed ferrets were once thought to be extinct, but after discovering a single remnant population, a successful captive-breeding and reintroduction program was developed and implemented. However, despite the achievements of captive-breeding and reintroduction efforts, conservation of this rare mustelid currently faces substantial challenges. Our ongoing work includes collaborations with state, tribal, and federal agencies, and other ngos, to develop effective and efficient techniques for managing the substantial impacts of sylvatic plague on populations of ferrets and prairie dogs, to assess field techniques (traditional spotlighting, infrared cameras, scent-detection dogs) to improve monitoring of ferret populations, and other conservation effort for this federally endangered species.muskrat populations have been experiencing large-scale population declines across at least the eastern half of the u.s., but we currently do not understand the mechanisms associated with these declines. This species has a positive influence on wetland ecosystems, and can be considered an indicator species of wetland health. We have transitioned into phase ii of our research in the great lakes basin, which is built upon the foundation of our work during phase i, but also recent research of others. Phase ii is a focused field-based investigation to evaluate muskrat demographics and health across multiple study sites that were selected across a gradient of habitat and hydrology conditions.

Management of elk in the western u.s. has become increasingly complex and scrutinized. State Wildlife agencies must balance social, economic, political, and ecological aspects during decision making. Populations of large carnivores have been recovering, populations of elk are above management objectives in many areas, and distribution of elk has substantially shifted from public to private lands during hunting seasons. Access to private lands is relatively limited for hunters to decrease elk populations, and economic loss (damage) to landowners has increased. We are evaluating state models for elk management in the western u.s. to compare models and make recommendations.

Gray foxes are a valuable and understudied furbearer across its entire range. Several indices suggest range contractions in Indiana, but also other midwest states. The factor(s) causing these distributional changes is unknown, but may be linked to habitat loss and fragmentation, changing mesocarnivore (e.g., coyote) community structure, disease, and other factors, and likely is a complex relationship among these factors. We are assessing gray fox populations at two study sites in Indiana through a 4-year comprehensive study designed to directly assess causes of population changes of gray foxes, and to provide recommendations for management of this species that can be applied in Indiana, but also other midwest states.