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Email Us
moenviron@moenviron.org
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T (314) 727-0600
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6267 Delmar Blvd. Ste. 2E
St. Louis, MO 63130
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| Home > Issues & Actions: Open Space & Wildlife |
Missouri's Wildlife
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White-tail deer are a common sight in Missouri today.
Other species have not fared as well.
Historically, Missouri was home to a great diversity of ecosystems that contained a vast array of wildlife. These ranged from the prairies and savannas of northern Missouri, the wetlands and bottomland forests found along the state's rivers and in the bootheel, to the oak and pine forests of the Ozarks. Two hundred years ago one would have found abundant mountain lions, black bears, elk, gray wolves, red wolves, prairie chickens and other wildlife species that today are greatly reduced in number or completely gone from the state. Despite great success in restoring white-tail deer, turkeys and river otters, many species remain absent from our state's landscape.
MCE works to ensure the continued survival of Missouri's wildlife species through the protection and restoration of their habitat.
The pallid sturgeon is one of
twenty-four federally listed species in Missouri.
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Coalition Petitions for Protection of Ozark Hellbender
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One of Missouri’s rarest creatures is in danger of extinction.
Surveys taken since the 1970s have documented a 77% decline in the population of the Ozark hellbender, Missouri’s largest salamander. The hellbender grows to two and a half feet and can live up to thirty years. While the exact cause of the precipitous decline in its population is unknown, it is known that the damming of rivers, chemical pollutants and sedimentation all negatively impact the species.
Ozark hellbender
Photo by Stan Trauth
The Missouri Coalition for the Environment on August 24, 2004, filed a petition to protect the Ozark hellbender. The petition was filed with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and seeks to have the hellbender added to the list of federally endangered species. The hellbender is already listed as endangered by the Missouri Department of Conservation, but this alone does not adequately protect the species and its habitat.
Ozark hellbenders are known to inhabit five streams within Missouri: the Current, Jacks Fork, Eleven Point and North Fork of the White Rivers, and Bryant Creek. It is found in only one other location on earth, the Spring River in Arkansas. The species requires clean, cool, moving water, with an abundance of large rocks to hide under.
The Fish & Wildlife Service has long known that the animal is in trouble, and that it should be given protection under the Endangered Species Act. However, the agency has never taken the formal steps to provide the hellbender with federal protection. Listing the species as endangered would make it a federal offense to kill a hellbender or destroy its habitat, and would require that government agencies pay more attention to its protection.
Click here to view a copy of the Coalition's petition.
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Cougars in Missouri – Here for Now, But Future Uncertain. |
Until recently, the last documented report of a wild mountain lion in Missouri was an animal killed in 1927 in the state's southeastern "bootheel" region. After more than one-thousand reported sightings – seven of which have been confirmed – it is now no longer disputed that at least a small population of mountain lions once again roams the state.
The confirmed sightings include some caught on video, a road kill and some verified through tracks and other evidence. They cover a wide range geographically, from northeastern Missouri, to suburban Kansas City, to the heart of the remote Ozark region. While only a few years ago state biologists considered cougar sightings akin to UFO reports, they now appear more open minded about the presence of big cats in our state. It is simply too hard to ignore the mounting evidence.
In 1994, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service prosecuted a case involving photographic evidence that 'coon hunters in the Ozarks had killed a mountain lion, and even obtained confessions from the men who shot it. This was the first of the string of confirmed reports. Over the next eight years, six more confirmed sightings occurred, including a road kill last fall just north of Kansas City. According to state biologists, only one of these cats showed clear evidence of being an escaped pet.
The 100-pound cougar killed last October on a suburban Kansas City freeway was found to have fed on deer and raccoon, according to microscopic tests of hair found in its digestive tract. DNA tests performed at Central Michigan University showed the cougar was a North American type, further indicating that it probably was not an escapee. "I think it was living on its own for awhile, if not totally wild,'' said Dave Hamilton, a biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Hamilton speculates that the cat could have wandered south along the Missouri River from the population in South Dakota's Black Hills.
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Cougar
Photo by Larry Moats, USFWS
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Cougar Cub
Photo by Gerald and Buff Corsi
©California Academy of Sciences
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It is unknown just why cougar sightings are becoming more common in Missouri and states further east. Wildlife biologists note that the large prey population – including white tail deer – could have an impact on the number of big cats, but no one knows for sure. There seems little doubt, however, that mountain lions are expanding eastward. The closest stable populations to Missouri are found in Texas, Colorado and South Dakota.
For its part, the Missouri Department of Conservation now seems ready to acknowledge that the big cats, from whatever source, do inhabit our state. The Department has formed a mountain lion task force to address sightings and livestock depredation issues. In addition, mountain lions remain classified as "endangered" under Missouri law, meaning they are protected unless they are pursuing or attacking humans, livestock or domestic animals. In those instances they may be killed, but must be reported immediately to a conservation agent and turned over within 24 hours.
The future for the mountain lion in Missouri looks bright if the state's residents can be convinced that the species is a positive addition to the already abundant wildlife. Although humans continue to encroach further into rural parts of the state, the large population of white-tail deer and substantial public landholdings may be enough to sustain a population of the big cats.
By Edward J. Heisel, 2003.
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