Recently, the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge, in collaboration with the Friends, rescued a colony of black-tailed prairie dogs from an impending housing development in Canyon, Texas, translocating them to a new home at the Nature Center. The Nature Center lost its prairie dog colony a decade ago, likely due to disease, which has decimated prairie dog colonies across their range habitats.
Prairie dogs are a keystone species and play an essential role in maintaining the health of prairie ecosystems. Their presence also offers valuable educational opportunities for the public.
Nature Center natural resource staff members Nic Martinez and David Reasoner, along with Friends Board Member Megan Davis-McConnell, traveled to Canyon to capture and transport the prairie dogs to their new home in Fort Worth.
Megan documented the rescue effort in this behind-the-scenes video.
Once on Nature Center grounds, the prairie dogs were released using specially designed traps that open into artificial burrows. These initial burrows offer crucial shelter and protection from predators as the prairie dogs dig and establish their burrow system. During this critical acclimation period, Nature Center staff are providing daily food to support the colony’s transition to their new environment. Prairie dogs primarily get their water from food sources, so staff are carefully selecting and providing a diet that ensures the colony receives adequate hydration.
So far, the prairie dogs are settling into their new home and seem to be thriving. Nature Center Acting Manager Jared Wood remains cautiously optimistic that the translocation will be successful.
The collaborative conservation project was made possible through the generous support of Friends Board Member Emeritus Marty Leonard.
The next time you are at the Nature Center, stop by to see these lively animals in their new habitat.
