Mark your calendar - Cougars of the Pacific Northwest

Join Brian Kertson, wildlife scientist, for a presentation on the ecology, behavior and management of cougars. Thursday, February 4 at 7 pm. Click on the flyer to enlarge for details.



These big cats are solitary and secretive. Learn how to recognize signs in the field and how to co-exist with cougars.

Protection For Yellowstone Grizzlies Continues

In the back-and-forth volley over grizzly bear protection in the Yellowstone National Park ecosystem, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy reinstated Threatened species protection for the bears under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on November 17, 2009. Two years earlier the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had de-listed the grizzlies in Yellowstone, saying the population had recovered and no longer needed federal protection. In September 2009, Judge Molloy ordered the bears back on Threatened status sighting that decrease in food sources such as white bark pine seeds (from climate change among other things), and lax state management regulations put the bear’s survival in jeopardy.

The November ruling puts to rest an appeal by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to release the bear from federal ESA protection. The appeal was supported by Wyoming’s Game and Fish Department as well as U.S. Sens. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo and John Barrasso, R-Wyo and Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo. "To be honest, our concern up to this point was whether bear numbers in Wyoming were getting too big," said Wyoming governor Dave Freudenthal. Yellowstone grizzly numbers are estimated at about 600, up from 200 when the bears were originally listed in 1975.

“It is good that we have more bears,” said Louisa Willcox, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Wild Bears Project. “But even the federal government’s own computer models aren’t optimistic about the bears’ fate a century from now.” Several disturbing trends are coming together, she said. While housing and energy development in the counties surrounding Yellowstone are accelerating, key food sources (ungulate meat, whitebark pine nuts, cutthroat trout and army cutworm moths) are threatened and/or declining. This one-two punch of less habitat and less food could be devastating to the bears’ long-term survival, said Willcox. “We’re going to have less room for the bears just when they need more room to compensate for less food,” she said.

White bark pine seeds, for instance, are a critical food source for grizzly bears in the Rocky Mountains. The number of cubs a female will produce has been correlated to the availability of white bark pine seeds. This food source provides an important source of fats and protein at a critical time in the female’s reproductive cycle.

The ruling is expected to be appealed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

By Julie Hopkins, with excerpts by Brodie Farquhar for Yellowstone Journal Corporation/ YellowstonePark.com, 2006)

Trafficking in bear gall bladders draws fines and jail sentence

WDFW NEWS RELEASE
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

OLYMPIA - Investigations by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) detectives into illegal trafficking in bear gall bladders have resulted in hefty fines for two eastern Washington men and a year-long jail sentence for one of them.

William A. Page, 63, a Curlew meat cutter, was sentenced Dec. 18 in Ferry County Superior Court to a year in jail plus $3,000 in fines after being convicted a month earlier of six counts of unlawful trafficking in wildlife.

Page, of 49 Bjork Ranch Rd. in Curlew, also forfeited $1,600 he paid to undercover WDFW officers for the gall bladders.

Mike Cenci, WDFW deputy chief of enforcement, said Page admitted to buying 35 gall bladders in 2007 and 2008, including 17 he purchased from undercover officers during the course of the department’s investigation.

Some people believe bear gall bladders have healing powers, Cenci said. He noted that black market prices for galls can range between $100 to thousands of dollars, depending on whether the sales take place locally or overseas.

"Buying or selling bear gall bladders is a crime in this state, because it creates an increased demand for wildlife and their body parts," Cenci said. "That can threaten the long-term sustainability of populations that can’t withstand commercialization."

In a separate case, the Spokane County Superior Court fined the owner of a Spokane food market $1,000 on Dec. 22 for two felony convictions of illegally trafficking in wildlife.

A Spokane jury found Jason Yon, 51, owner of JAX Market on East Mission Street, guilty of purchasing four bear gall bladders from WDFW officers during an undercover investigation in 2008. In addition to the fine, Yon forfeited $800 he paid to buy the gall bladders.

Cenci said WDFW relies heavily on tips from hunters and people in local communities about illegal wildlife-trafficking operations. He asks that people who believe they have witnessed these crimes call WDFW Enforcement at (360) 902-2936.

Symbol of Justice

The wolf is not always a feared and hated creature. In the medieval village of Utrecht, Netherlands the symbol of justice is the wolf.

The courtyard of the criminal justice center displays a magnificent statue of a blindfolded white wolf. Why the blindfold? Because as the saying goes "justice is blind". This is done in order to indicate that justice is (or should be) meted out objectively, without fear or favor, regardless of identity, money, power, or weakness.

The irony is that today in America we are struggling to treat the wolf in this same frame of context and blind objectivity.

Utrecht was created almost 2,000 years ago by the occupying Roman army. The Romans introduced many cultural changes and advancements. They were ultimately "run out of town" by the invading germanic tribes.


The city was never bombed in World War II and still retains it's old world charm and unique architecture.

posted by Dennis Ryan, photo credits Dennis Ryan

Cougar Ecology and Conservation

Announcing the release of Cougar Ecology and Conservation
edited by Maurice Hornocker and Sharon Negri



Internationally renowned biologist Maurice Hornocker and long time conservationist Sharon Negri have joined forces to produce Cougar Ecology and Conservation, a seminal go-to resource for scientists, wildlife managers, biologists, conservationists, and anyone who has an interest in large carnivores.

A rare anthology featuring twenty leading scientists from Canada to Patagonia, Cougar Ecology and Conservation is the first comprehensive book that spans the cougars entire range and includes a of topics surrounding this complex animal.

The book's contributors cover a wide range of experience, perspectives and topics. Some of the subjects covered include taxonomy, genetics, history, cougar behavior and social organization, predator-prey relationships, population dynamics, management, human dimensions, the role of government and citizens in conservation, conservation planning, and the future of research.

Cougar Ecology and Conservation contains 304 pages, including 36 color photographs, 70 halftones, 19 line drawings, and 25 tables.

To order the book link to: University of Chicago Press

Lookout Pack moves to winter range

Three adults, four pups in pack as they move to lower elevations in the Methow Valley for the third winter.

By Joyce Campbell, Methow Valley News

The Methow Valley’s wolf pack is back from their summer range in the high mountains of the Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness and Twisp River Valley.

A collaboration of agencies and conservation groups are monitoring the seven-member Lookout Pack by air and by ground using radio telemetry, verified sightings, howling surveys, remote cameras and follow-ups on reports by the public.

The pair of radio-collared wolves is being followed by a sub-adult wolf and four pups, as they inhabit a territory that reaches from the Wilderness to the valley floor. As the snow deepens in the mountains, biologists were expecting the pack to return to lower elevations.

They showed up the first week in November, similar to last year, said John Rohrer, wildlife biologist for the Methow Valley Ranger District. “They made bigger moves until the snow got deeper,” said Rohrer. The pack last year roamed the far reaches of the Twisp River Valley before settling in the Lookout Mountain area in late December.

Just because they did it last year, doesn’t mean they’ll do it this year. The pack has been unpredictable, staying later this year in their winter and denning range, according to Rohrer. “Last year, they moved to the Wilderness a lot earlier,” he said.

“There continue to be sightings all along the Cascades, but nothing documented,” said Andrea Lyons, Forest Service wildlife biologist for the Entiat Ranger District. She said there have been visual sightings, people seeing tracks and scat and hearing howling. The reports are not concentrated in a certain area or time.

Lyons has been tracking the wolf pack from the air all summer, flying every 10 to 14 days. Antennae are attached to both struts on a fixed-wing airplane to get directional signals from the radio-collared adults. The monitoring will shift to more ground telemetry during the winter, said Lyons.

To report wolf sightings call the state wolf reporting hotline at (888) 584-9038.

Human-Wildlife Conflict Training

It seems like more and more we are hearing about and dealing with human-wildlife conflicts which in many cases are more about conflicts between humans than about wildlife. As part of my job with the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project (GBOP) and my job as a zoo keeper this topic comes up a lot. Dealing with this topic can be touchy so I was very excited to hear about a course that teaches about conflict dynamics and how to address them.

I attended the Conservation and Conflict Experiential Training course taught by staff of the Human Wildlife Conflict Collaboration (HWCC). The course was held September 9-11 2009 in Washington, D.C. Our class had people from the US, Wales, France and Africa. It was a great mix of people with varied backgrounds; grad students, the Humane Society, Defenders of Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation Society, USDA and the National Park Service etc. Having this mix of people really brought in some great ideas and information exchange which added to the wonderful learning experience of the class.



This is not a sit, take notes and listen to the instructors’ course. There are a lot of discussions and role play; the more you participate the more you get out of it.

”The objective of this course is to improve the ability of conservation practitioners to understand conflict dynamics and establish more effective ways to address them. Participants will accomplish this by drawing on tools, processes, and theory developed in the field of conflict resolution that have shown to be applicable to conservation realities. As a result, conservation practitioners will possess a broader set of skills to ensure that conservation solutions are more successful and sustainable.” (HWCC)

We practiced various roles: being a third party neutral, an observer and people involved in a conflict. Playing these different “characters” and being in someone else’s shoes brought a new perspective to the process and gave a glimpse into how the other side may be feeling. At the end of each role play the groups (usually made up of 4 people) would critique the people doing the role play providing constructive criticism and positive feedback. It was a safe environment to practice the new skills we were learning each day and to improve on the ones we already had.

I would recommend this course to anyone that has to deal with human-wildlife conflict; it really does provide tools and guidance to prevent or resolve conflict issues. As someone who has never been good at dealing with human conflict, I left the course feeling like I can go out accomplish my goals and when conflicts arise I can handle them.

For more information on HWCC and the training course go to their website: http://www.humanwildlifeconflict.org/Training.htm

Submitted by Wendy Gardner, photo credits: Joe Milmoe

Loss Of Top Predators Causing Surge In Smaller Predators, Ecosystem Collapse

The catastrophic decline around the world of "apex" predators such as wolves, cougars, lions or sharks has led to a huge increase in smaller "mesopredators" that are causing major economic and ecological disruptions, a new study concludes.

The findings, published October 1 in the journal Bioscience, found that in North America all of the largest terrestrial predators have been in decline during the past 200 years while the ranges of 60 percent of mesopredators have expanded. The problem is global, growing and severe, scientists say, with few solutions in sight.

An example: in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, lion and leopard populations have been decimated, allowing a surge in the "mesopredator" population next down the line, baboons. In some cases children are now being kept home from school to guard family gardens from brazen packs of crop-raiding baboons.

In case after case around the world, the researchers said, primary predators such as wolves, lions or sharks have been dramatically reduced if not eliminated, usually on purpose and sometimes by forces such as habitat disruption, hunting or fishing. Many times this has been viewed positively by humans, fearful of personal attack, loss of livestock or other concerns. But the new picture that's emerging is a range of problems, including ecosystem and economic disruption that may dwarf any problems presented by the original primary predators.

The elimination of wolves is often favored by ranchers, for instance, who fear attacks on their livestock. However, that has led to a huge surge in the number of coyotes, a "mesopredator" once kept in check by the wolves. The coyotes attack pronghorn antelope and domestic sheep, and attempts to control them have been hugely expensive, costing hundreds of millions of dollars.

The problems are not confined to terrestrial ecosystems. Sharks, for instance, are in serious decline due to overfishing. In some places that has led to an explosion in the populations of rays, which in turn caused the collapse of a bay scallop fishery and both ecological an economic losses.

Source and complete article: ScienceDaily (Oct. 4, 2009)

Submitted by Dennis Ryan

WDFW submits wolf management plan draft

Public review of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and Draft Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, as required under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), will begin on October 5, 2009.

A series of public meetings will be held in October and November, (see schedule at the WDFW website), with the public comment period continuing through January 8, 2010.

This is the public's opportunity to meet with WDFW staff and give input to the draft plan prior to the release of the final version.

The content of the plan is published on the WDFW website for review prior to the meetings. A minimum goal of 15 breeding pairs of wolves would be neccessary to remove the wolf from the Washington endangered species list.

Submitted by Dennis Ryan

Montana cows share their food!

These pictures were taken at the Broken O Ranch on the Sun River near Simms, MT.


The grizzlies ignored the cows and the cows left the grizzlies alone.



Submitted by Dennis Ryan

Bear in the Backyard

Some Issaquah Highlands (east of Seattle,Washington) community neighbors woke to an interesting site the other morning and got it on tape.



Unfortunately, according to Rose & Saurabh Saxena, its not an unusual sight, “Beyond the thrill of seeing the bear, we were also disturbed that our neighbors continue to place their garbage out the night before (garbage pickup), and wanted to take the video to raise awareness. “ Last fall they saw a large mother black bear and three cubs in the same location dragging garbage into the greenbelt. This year’s bear seems smaller and they speculate that it may be one of those grown cubs.

The Saxena’s have joined with their local community NW Wildlife Stewards, volunteer group to encourage the Homeowner’s Association to do more to keep the bears out of the neighborhood, and to keep the bears and people safe. Cathy Macchio started the NW Wildlife Stewards group last year after repeatedly seeing bear-strewn garbage in her neighborhood and having one bear raid her compost pile and leave foot prints on her wood fence. She contacted Julie Hopkins, with the Grizzly Bear Outreach Project and received support and education on how to reduce conflicts with black bears in her neighborhood.

Cathy and the other Wildlife Steward members have convinced the Homeowner’s Association to post metal signs describing Bear Smart steps on the mail kiosks, and have been working with the local garbage company to reduce bear problems as well. Cathy is also involved in creating a website to educate the community on how to keep wildlife wild, report wildlife sightings and promote resident involvement as volunteers. The website should be functional in the next couple of months so check back for a link. The NW Wildlife Stewards would like to see the people and the wildlife of their growing neighborhood co-exist safely. If you are interested in helping the Wildlife Stewards or have any questions about the group you can contact Cathy at wildlifestewards@gmail.com.

Written by Julie Hopkins, GBOP field representative.

Think you can out climb a bear?

THINK AGAIN!

Source: Originally posted on TWEETERS.

2 accused of illegally killing WA grizzly

MOSES LAKE, Wash. - Two Grant County men are expected to appear in federal court next week, accused of shooting one of Washington state's few grizzly bears. The case stretches back to a hunting trip in October 2007, during which investigators say the men shot a full grown male grizzly in Northeastern Washington's Selkirk Mountains.

Kurtis Cox and Brandon Rodeback are then accused of transporting the dead bear to property near their homes in the Moses Lake area. State and federal wildlife investigators say they were able to find the burial site.

"Officers found a grizzly bear carcass and a grizzly bear hide and head in two separate holes buried on the family farm," said Deputy Chief Mike Cenci, of Washington Fish & Wildlife Enforcement. Investigators were able to determine from tests that the bear was a valuable research subject.

State and federal wildlife officers say a tip led them to the suspects and a site where they tried to hide the bear. They released this photo of the bear's hide. "It had an ear tag," Cenci said. "Biologists had been tracking that animal for 14 years, so we know a lot about its life history."

Wildlife groups say killing any member of the state's struggling grizzly bear population is a big setback to hopes the large bears will reestablish a presence in Washington state. "It really increases the chance that this animal is not going to make it, and we cannot afford to lose anymore bears in the Cascades or the Selkirks," said Paul Bannick, Seattle Director of Conservation Northwest.

Once plentiful in Washington and most of the rest of the Western states, the grizzlies were all but hunted into extinction. Efforts to protect them have helped increase numbers in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. The return of the bears to those states has already generated heated concerns from some ranching and hunting groups.
Those same concerns are now being voiced as Washington state prepares for what appears to be the grizzly's imminent return to this state. Shooting a grizzly in any state is a violation of federal endangered species laws and could lead to six months in jail and heavy fines.

Cox and Rodeback are expected to appear before a federal magistrate in Spokane next week. KING 5 was unable to contact either man today. Court documents indicate the two men explained to investigators they didn't realize the bear was a protected grizzly, not a common black bear for which Rodeback had a hunting permit.

Source: GARY CHITTIM / KING 5 News

A Bear Resistant Cooler that's even Yogi Bear proof

Thousands of people go camping, fishing and recreating in bear country every year which means there is a need for bear resistant products that you can store your food/catch in.


There are bear resistant food containers, bags so you can hang your food and now there is a bear resistant cooler officially approved by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee. It is called the YETI.

YETI Tundra ice chests have been thoroughly tested by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) in both controlled simulations and with wild grizzly bears. The IGBC officially approved the YETI Tundra coolers for use on public lands occupied by grizzlies. The IGBC publishes minimum design and structural standards, inspection and testing methodology for BEAR RESISTANT CONTAINERS. YETI Tundra coolers met the IGBC requirement both in the engineered test and the live bear test.

The containers come in many different sizes and price ranges to meet the needs of almost anyone.

It is nice to see this new bear resistant product. Use of the YETI will help keep many bears from getting into human food which in turn will keep them from becoming problem bears.

Submitted by Wendy Gardner

Smokey the Bear is 65 but not retiring

Since his “birth” on August 9, 1944, Smokey Bear has been a recognized symbol of conservation and protection of America’s forests. This is a vintage Smokey Bear shoulder patch, photo courtesy of Dennis Ryan.


His message about wildfire prevention has helped to reduce the number of acres burned annually by wildfires, from about 22 million (1944) to an average of 7 million today. Many Americans believe that lightning starts most wildfires. In fact, on average, 9 out of 10 wildfires nationwide are caused by people.

The principle causes are campfires left unattended, trash burning on windy days, arson, careless discarding of smoking materials or BBQ coals, and operating equipment without spark arrestors.

Smokey Bear is the center of the longest-running public service advertising (PSA) campaign in U.S. history. Since 1944, he has been communicating his well-known message, “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires.”
This is the debut 1944 Smokey poster.
In 2001, the term ‘Wildfires’ was introduced to include all unwanted, unplanned fires in natural areas such as grass fires or brush fires. The Smokey Bear campaign is a critical tool specially designed to ask for every citizen's conscientious commitment to be responsible with fire.

A new ad campaign encourages young adults to “Get Your Smokey On” – that is, to become like Smokey and speak up when others are acting carelessly.

Primary source: USFS News, Gary C. Chancey, Wayne National Forest

B.C. officer uses CPR to resuscitate bear

A conservation officer in Prince George, B.C., used his CPR training to save a bear's life after it was tranquillized. This photo was captured by cell phone camera.

Gary Van Spengen's conservation team was called to a residential neighbourhood Monday after a female bear was spotted in a tree. A biologist tranquillized the bear while it was up the tree, and after what Van Spengen described as a "soft landing," the bear stopped breathing after it hit the ground, but still had a heartbeat.

Van Spengen said he has never seen a bear stop breathing after being tranquillized in his 20 years as a conservation officer. "We could tell the heart was still beating … but the chest wasn't moving at all. I didn't want to lose this bear because I wanted to get a radio collar on it, so I started doing chest compressions on the bear to try to get air in and out of the lungs," Van Spengen told CBC Radio's B.C. Almanac on Tuesday .

While he said he did consider mouth-to-mouth breathing, another component of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), Van Spengen jokingly said, "[Bears] usually don't carry breath mints." Van Spengen said it was similar to doing chest compressions on a person, where the diaphragm is pushed up and down, to move air in and out of the chest cavity.

"I've gotten a bit of razzing from it, but it's all in good fun," he said. After 10 to 15 minutes, the bear started breathing on her own. After being fitted with a radio collar, the bear was released south of Prince George.

Conservation officers plan to track the bear's movements as part of a study on the interaction between humans and bears in the area. Van Spengen said this particular bear was a good candidate because it hadn't started eating garbage, so would not be considered a nuisance bear. "She's wandering around doing bear things right now, eating and trying to fatten up for the winter," he said.

Source: CBC news

New Winthrop Ranger District Manager

Michael Liu hosted an open house for the public at the Winthrop ranger station. He is the new district manager and has 27 years experience with the USFS. Previous postings included Idaho, Montana, California, Colorado and New York. He has seen it all and been exposed to many of the same issues that will require attention in the Okanogan area.

Local stakeholders stopped by to say hello, chat and ask questions. Folks representing the town of Winthrop, logging, snowmobiling, back country horsemen and conservationists were in the mix.

Mike took all questions and responded thoughtfully. For someone who has been on board for only a short time he has taken in a lot about the local issues and the resources that are available to the district. Impressions were he will attempt to strike a balance with issues that tend to be polarizing such as the local wolf pack and controlled burning policies.

Everyone welcomed Mike to the Methow.

Farmer's Market season in full swing

Twisp Washington has a vibrant farmer's market every Saturday from 9am till noon. Lots of local crafts and produce. Many local residents, vacation home owners and tourists attend.

It's a great place to talk to a cross section of folks about bears. Believe me, everyone has a bear story and you get to hear them all.

This family was no exception. They had many questions about black bears and grizzlies in the Methow Valley area.

Just about everyone wanted to compare the size of their hand to the casting of the grizzly track. Impressed they were.


The tip of the day came from a Native American couple who lived in a village near St. Mary's in the Yukon territory. They literally grew up with grizzly bears as neighbors. "Never set up camp on old grizzly tracks. Only set up camp on fresh grizzly tracks."

Can you think why?

Bear species: six of eight face extinction

The Asiatic black bear is now listed as vulnerable, therefore six of the eight species of bear in the world are now officially facing extinction.

The smallest, the sun bear, is the latest to be classified as vulnerable on the Red List of Threatened Species. Four other species - Asiatic black bear, Sloth bear, Andean bear and Polar bear - are also listed as vulnerable.

The giant panda is facing the greatest threat and remains in the endangered category. There is least concern over the European brown bear and the American black bear.

The sun bear found in Souteast Asia, Sumatra and Borneo, will be included in the 2007 Red List drawn up by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Previously it was known as 'Data Defficient' meaning not enough was known about it to give it a classification. Rob Steinmetz, co-chair of the IUCN Bear Specialist Group's sun bear expert team, said: "Although we still have lot to learn about the biology and ecology of this species, we are quite certain that it is in trouble.

"We estimate that sun bears have declined by at least 30 per cent over the past 30 years (three bear generations), and continue to decline at this rate. Deforestation has reduced both the area and quality of their habitat. Where habitat is now protected, commercial poaching remains a significant threat.

"We are working with governments, protected area managers, conservation groups and local people to prevent extinction of the many small, isolated sun bear populations that remain in many parts of Southeast Asia."

Bear hunting is illegal throughout Southern Asia, but they suffer heavy losses from poachers, who risk the small chance of being caught against lucrative gains from selling parts. Bile from the bear's gall bladder is used in traditional Chinese medicine and their paws are consumed as a delicacy. Additionally, bears are often killed when they prey on livestock or raid agricultural crops. Bears simply roaming near a village may be killed because they are perceived as a threat to human life.

Dave Garshelis, co-chair of the Bear Specialist Group, which met earlier this month in Mexico, to update the status of the eight species, said: "Although the bear population estimates for Asia are not as reliable as we would like, we estimate that bears in Southeast Asia are declining at a particularly rapid rate due to extensive loss of forest habitat combined with rampant poaching."

Bruce McLellan, also a co-chair, said: "An enormous amount of effort and funding for conservation and management continue to be directed at bears in North America where their status is relatively favourable. It is unfortunate that so little is directed at bears in Asia and South America where the need is extreme. We are trying to change this situation but success is slow."

By Paul Eccleston, Telegraph.co.uk

Living with Predators Resource Guide

The 2009 edition of the Living with Predators Resource Guides is now available. The guides can be downloaded at no cost via the Living with Wildlife Foundation (LWWF) web site at www.lwwf.org.

The guides are a comprehensive set of resources containing information about how to prevent conflicts with predators with an emphasis on bears.

The largest guide, “Techniques and refuse Management options for Residential Areas, Campgrounds and Group-Use Facilities” has been updated to include a number of new bear-resistant products and new information about the updated Bear-Resistant Products Testing Program.

One of the guides, “Predator Behavior Modification Tools for Wildlife Professionals” is not available via the general link on the LWWF web page. We try to restrict distribution of this guide to wildlife professionals. Please email Patti Sowka at patti@lwwf.org if you would like to be able to download this guide.

LWWF has now expanded its portion of the bear-resistant products testing program to include testing with captive black bears at Southwest Wildlife Rehabilitation and Educational Foundation, Inc. located in Scottsdale, Arizona. This non-profit does a wonderful job of helping to educate the public about ways to co-exist with wildlife and they also provide a life-long home to confiscated and non-releasable wild animals. Please visit them at www.southwestwildlife.org .

Please contact Patti Sowka at 406-544-5307 or patti@lwwf.org for more information.