July 2022 - 9

NEWS
Wyoming swift fox
translocation resumes this year
After an absence of over 50 years, the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and partners are reintroducing swift fox to Aaniiih (Gros Ventre) and Nakoda (Assiniboine) sovereign lands in Montana.
GPS collars allow biologists to monitor the survival, movements and habitat use of the foxes once they are acclimated to the area and released. (Photo by Johnny Stutzman/Smithsonian Institute)
CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Game
and Fish Department will continue to aid in
the translocation of swift foxes to the Fort
Belknap Indian Reservation in northern
Montana.
Game and Fish, along with state agencies
in Colorado and Kansas, started a 5-year
reintroduction effort at Fort Belknap in
2020. The original plan was to translocate
50 swift foxes from Wyoming in 2020 and
50 more in 2024. Trapping efforts in Wyoming
were reduced due to the COVID-19
pandemic with 27 foxes trapped and transported
in 2020 and an additional 18 trapped
and transported in 2021. Instead of waiting
until 2024, efforts will begin this year in
late-summer to early-fall to trap and relocate
30 swift foxes from eastern Wyoming. Twenty
more will be trapped and relocated in 2024.
The Wyoming Game and Fish
Commission approved the second phase of
this project at its March meeting in Cody.
" Game and Fish will only allow captures
of individual foxes from the eastern half of
the state, where populations of swift foxes
have been steady to increasing, " said Heather
O'Brien, Game and Fish nongame mammal
biologist. " This also is the historic range in
Wyoming for swift foxes. Capture sites will
be carefully selected. "
There won't be any trapping or translocations
of swift foxes in Wyoming in 2023.
Game and Fish will conduct statewide monitoring
of the species to assess the population
and determine any effects from the two
translocation efforts.
All swift foxes relocated to Fort Belknap
will be protected by law and fitted with GPS
collars to track movements and survival. Data
from functional collars in 2020 resulted in
a 60 percent survival rate and 45 percent in
2021. Published data from natural swift fox
populations estimate annual survival rates
between 37 and 43 percent.
Hila Shamon is a research ecologist for
Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
and has worked closely on this project. " After
two years of introduction this has exceeded
our expectations in terms of the survival rate, "
she said. " It has been a privilege to work
with biologists on the ground and see the
successes so far. "
Swift foxes prefer shortgrass, prairie habitat.
O'Brien said since 2015 swift foxes have
expanded their range to other lower-elevation
ranges in the state. This expansion is documented
as part of another research project
between Game and Fish and the University
of Wyoming.
- Robert Gagliardi, WGFD
Wyoming Wildlife | 9

July 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2022

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https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/wyoming-wildlife-may-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2024-e-edition
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2024
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https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/december-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2023
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https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-iak-special-issue
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https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/dec-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2021
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https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/January2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/December2020
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