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Attwater Prairie Chicken
National Wildlife Refuge		 The refuge's namesake, the Attwater's prairie chicken, was once abundant on the Texas coastal prairies. Today, their numbers have been reduced to two small flocks.
P.O. Box 519
Eagle Lake, TX   77434
E-mail: John_Magera@fws.gov
Phone Number: 979-234-3021
Visit the Refuge's Web Site:
http://www.fws.gov/refuge/attwater_prairie_chicken/		                      Endangered Attwater's prairie chicken.
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  History
Continued . . .

Acre by acre, coastal prairies diminished as cities and towns sprouted up, industries grew and expanded, and farmers plowed up native grasslands for croplands or tame pasture. Suppressing prairie fires also allowed brush species to invade prairies.

Like fish out of water, the Attwater's prairie-chicken had nowhere to go. By 1919, it disappeared from Louisiana. By 1937, only about 8,700 individuals remained in Texas, signaling the end of hunting for a once common game bird. The bird was listed as endangered in 1967 and in 1973 the Endangered Species Act provided immediate protection for this seriously declining bird.

 
 
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