Tag: Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges Complex
The content below has been tagged with the term “Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges Complex.”
Articles
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Fallen tree at National Key Deer Refuge. Photo by USFWS.‘Lots of new help here,’ as recovery picks up and residents begin returning
September 16, 2017 | 5 minute read
Big Pine Key, Florida – Hurricane Irma hammered the Florida Keys a week ago Sunday and the recovery has been a whirl of progress and promise. Learn more...
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Damaged palm trees and mangroves on Cudjoe Key, Florida. Photo by Glenn Fawcett, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Service employees joining Irma response effort
September 15, 2017 | 7 minute read
Big Pine Key, Florida – It had all the makings of a thankless, dangerous and depressing task, but Jon Wallace knew – or thought he knew – what he was facing. Learn more...
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A Key deer on Big Pine Key in Florida. Photo by Garry Tucker, USFWS.
Support and cooperation cure the New World screwworm infestation in the Keys
April 12, 2017 | 2 minute read
The unexpected New World screwworm infestation of the endangered Key deer confirmed September 30, 2016, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture was found on 13 Keys and led to 135 Key deer deaths. Screwworms are fly larvae or maggots that infest warm-blooded animals through open wounds and feed on living tissue. They were formerly eradicated from the U.S. in the 1960’s. The herculean effort to eliminate screwworms and save the Key deer was recently celebrated at a public meeting on March 25, 2017. Learn more...
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Response key deer buck at refuge headquarters. Photo by Jennifer Koches, USFWS.
Whats old is new again (New World screwworm, that is)
February 1, 2017 | 5 minute read
In talking to people about what our agency does for endangered species, you can’t help but conjure up images of those iconic species that have helped frame the visual; species like sea turtles, manatees, wood storks, red-cockaded woodpeckers, whooping cranes, and freshwater mussels. The Southeast Region is the lead for about 380 endangered species of plants and, animals and among those Southeast, we get to claim is Florida’s endangered Key deer. Learn more...
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A Key deer on Big Pine Key in Florida. Photo by Garry Tucker, USFWS.
The endangered key deer: no place to go
September 24, 2010 | 2 minute read
The Florida Keys is a globally unique ecosystem and the only home in the world to the endangered Key deer. But some projections show that these islands could be underwater by 2100. Learn more...
News
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North Mississippi Task Force responds to Hurricane Irma. Photo by USFWS.
Knocking on doors, saving lives
September 15, 2017 | 2 minute read
Big Pine Key, Florida – Hurricane Irma killed eight people in the Florida Keys. Sami Gray, newly arrived and in charge, did her part to make sure there wouldn’t be a 9th body found, not on her watch. Gray, the incident commander for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service response to the hurricane asked law-enforcement officers to undertake another round of “wellness checks” Thursday afternoon in and around the National Key Deer Refuge. Read the full story...
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A Key deer in velvet. Photo by USFWS.
Irma leaves plenty of food and water for key deer
September 13, 2017 | 2 minute read
If you’re worried about Florida Key deer dying of thirst or starvation following Hurricane Irma, an expert on the tiny creatures has one word of advice: don’t. The deer have ample water and more food than they might be able to eat. That’s the opinion of Roel Lopez, the director of the Natural Resources Institute at Texas A&M University. He studied the animals, a subspecies of white-tailed deer, for his doctoral thesis. Read the full story...
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Incident Commander a Sami Gray briefs N MS Task Force team before heading into Big Pine Key to provide support following hurricane. Photo by USFWS.
Service crews head south
September 13, 2017 | 2 minute read
Hurricane Irma had hardly dissipated before U.S. Fish and Wildlife (Service) crews headed south, tracing in reverse the path the storm had cut across Florida and Georgia. In trucks and cars they crossed into Florida, or headed for south Georgia. The teams are bringing fuel, water, food, chainsaws and more to look after people and places in Irma’s path. Crews ran into “logistical challenges” on interstates crowded with evacuees headed home, said Sami Gray, who is leading the Service’s response effort. Read the full story...
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A Key deer on Big Pine Key in Florida. Photo by Garry Tucker, USFWS.
Key deer among many Florida Keys species facing Irma
September 11, 2017 | 4 minute read
Less than a year after surviving a rugged screwworm infestation, the Florida Keys’ Key deer now must contend with Hurricane Irma. Some fans of the endangered species are worried. Catastrophic storms like Irma raise questions about wildlife, nature and impacts to their populations. At the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges Complex, there are nearly 25 threatened and endangered wildlife and plants. “When you know there are 130 mile-per-hour winds and 10 feet of storm surge shoving into the Keys, that’s big,” said Dan Clark, project leader for the complex. Read the full story...
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A Key deer in velvet. Photo by USFWS.
Stimulus funds help determine future of endangered key deer at Florida Keys Refuge
April 27, 2010 | 6 minute read
The petite Key deer is dependent on fresh water in a place where fresh water can sometimes be scarce – the Florida Keys, the only place where the Key deer lives. At National Key Deer Refuge, fresh water collects in small ponds that form in the limestone, known as solution holes, providing life for the refuge’s federally listed Key deer population. But are the solution holes plentiful enough, and fresh enough, to support the refuge’s deer? Read the full story...
