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General
The various habitats throughout the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge
are home to over 325 bird species, 53 species of reptiles and amphibians,
58 mammal species, including mule deer, white-tailed deer, pronghorn,
javelina and mountain lions. The Refuge wildlife biology program is active
in inventorying and monitoring a variety of species and their habitat,
and continues to develop an extensive GIS (geographic information systems)
database used in wildlife and habitat management. The Refuge is also a
popular location for wildlife researchers to work on graduate and undergraduate
field projects.
The Refuge is known for the endangered masked bobwhite and its captive breeding program. The captive-reared masked bobwhite have been released onto the refuge for many years, but currently refuge biologists are focusing more effort on habitat management in order to increase survival of existing wild bobwhite. As part of a Refuge-wide Habitat Management Plan, a variety of habitat management strategies will be implemented to improve habitat conditions for both endangered and non-endangered species.
The Pima pineapple cactus and the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl are two other endangered species on the refuge that are actively managed. Refuge biology staff and volunteers spend many hours annually surveying for these species prior to and after prescribed burning. This monitoring is done in order to protect the species and learn about the effects fire may have on them. The Jaguar, Chiricahua leopard frog, Kearney’s bluestar, southwestern willow flycatcher, and the lesser long-nosed bat are other endangered species that utilize the refuge. To learn more about Arizona's endangered species link to Arizona Ecological Services Website: http://arizonaes.fws.gov
Bi-National
Cooperation
The only other known wild populations of masked bobwhite occur on privates
ranches in Mexico, about 150 miles south of the refuge. Refuge management
and biology staff work closely with Mexican ranchers and biologists to
conduct population surveys and habitat studies. Funding is sometimes available
to work on habitat improvement projects on the ranches. There are also
efforts to work cooperatively on quail translocations between the refuge
and Mexico.
For more information on the Refuge biology program please contact us at:
phone (520) 823-4251, ext. 116 or
E-mail: Bonnie_Swarbrick@fws.gov.
Buenos Aires
NWR Photos of
Masked Bobwhite Quail
