Pen-raised quail short-lived substitute, habitat long-term solution
Feb. 28, 2018
LITTLE ROCK – When Arkansas’s deer herd reached a scant 500 individual animals statewide in the 1940s, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission stocked deer from other states to bring the population back. The same practice brought back Arkansas’s bears, alligators and elk. Even turkey populations rebounded after stockings from transplanted wild birds. In all of these cases, stocking may have been the easiest piece of the puzzle to see, but it was far from the complete story.
Biologists asking motorists to report road-killed deer for disease research
Feb. 28, 2018
LITTLE ROCK – Biologists are ramping up roadkill surveys for the next month and are asking all Arkansans to report any dead deer they see along roads and highways. Road-killed deer offer biologists a chance to monitor for chronic wasting disease throughout the state without the need to kill deer to obtain samples.
Portions of Arkansas WMAs may be closed next week
Feb. 21, 2018
LITTLE ROCK – Weather permitting, portions of Trusten Holder, Seven Devils, Cut-off Creek and Big Lake wildlife management areas may be closed to daytime public access next week. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services, in cooperation with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, will be conducting aerial gunning operations on the WMAs aimed at reducing feral hog populations on the WMAs.
Reward offered for tagged crappie in Horseshoe Lake
Feb. 21, 2018
HUGHES – Horseshoe Lake, an oxbow once part of the Mississippi River in eastern Arkansas, has long been noted for good crappie production, but recent studies have shown a mostly smaller, younger fish population. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is in the second year of a tagged crappie study to determine the cause of crappie mortality, and anglers can help.
Entergy supports waterfowl work in east Arkansas through $150,000 grant
Feb. 21, 2018
LITTLE ROCK – More tourists, more ducks and cleaner water are three benefits Entergy hopes to see in east Arkansas with its recent $150,000 grant to Ducks Unlimited project to restore wetlands near the White River.
Mississippi discovers first case of chronic wasting disease
Feb. 14, 2018
VICKSBURG – A tissue sample collected Jan. 25 from a free-ranging white-tailed deer in extreme southern Issaquena County, Mississippi, returned the first known positive test of chronic wasting disease in the state.
The Great Backyard Bird Count begins Feb. 16
Feb. 14, 2018
LITTLE ROCK – Join birders across the country Feb. 16-19, and record your birdwatching results to help scientists discover trends and changes in migrations and populations of birds in the Great Backyard Bird Count.