Mount Graham's red squirrel population down

By Jon Johnson
Assistant Editor
Published on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 9:53 AM MST

The Mount Graham red squirrel is an elusive creature that has had its official population numbers rise and fall numerous times. According to a recent study, there are slightly fewer of them than there were last year.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department and the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service recently announced the results of its Fall 2009 survey. The survey estimates the range of squirrels to be about 250, with a margin of error of plus or minus 11. The Fall 2008 estimate was 263 squirrels, with a margin of error of plus or minus 11.

The Mount Graham red squirrel is one of 25 subspecies of red squirrels found in North America. It was believed to be extinct in the 1950s but was later rediscovered in the 1970s. It was later added to the federal endangered species list in 1987 after estimates of its 1986 population were found to be fewer than 400.

According to surveys over the past 18 years, the squirrel population estimates yoyo up and down, with a high of more than 550 in 2000 and a low of about 200 in 2006.

The population appears to correspond to changes in the conifer seed crop, which is their primary food resource.

The squirrels’ main habitat is the spruce-fir zone (about 10,000 feet), but they have been found at lower elevations in the mixed-conifer zones as well. The habitat area in the Pinaleño Mountain Range has been found to be from about 7,800 feet on the north and east slopes to 10,720 feet on High Peak.

According to University of Arizona Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Professor Bruce Walsh, the Mount Graham red squirrel has been isolated from other subspecies of red squirrel since the end of the Pleistocene glacial periods.

Prior to the placement of the telescopes and other buildings for the Mount Graham Inter-national Observatory, protesters fought against the project in fear that it would be harmful to the squirrel.

As part of its permit for the MGIO, the U of A is required to fund a monitoring program to determine if it is negatively impacting the squirrel population.

According to the university, the program employs biologists to monitor the population around the MGIO and studies have found no indication of differences between the area near the telescopes and other areas of the mountain.

So far, the biologists have concluded there have been no signs of any effect of the observatory on the red squirrel.

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Comments

4 comment(s)

with gravy wrote on Nov 18, 2009 12:40 PM:

" I care about all the money that has been spent studying this rodent, then the rodent itself. Think of all the hungry people in the world that could benefit from that kind of money, its a flippin squirrel,!! On the other hand, they are mighty tasty. "

Endangered species wrote on Nov 8, 2009 7:26 AM:

" Robin, when are you guys going to introduce the endangered mexican grey wolves to Mt. Graham. I understand the Center for Biological Diversity would like to see wolves statewide. The wolves will sure take care of them pesky squirrels for you.

Ya can't have your cake and eat it too. "

Robin Silver wrote on Nov 4, 2009 9:39 PM:

" Of course UA biologist working for the astronomers "have found no indication of differences between the area near the telescopes and other areas of the mountain." This is not true. Fire fighting efforts in 1996 and in 2004. The censored 1997 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Opinion (#2-21-96-F-286) on Clark Peak Fire Emergency Suppression and Rehabilitation, October 2, 1997 recognizes that the 1996 Mt. Graham fire-fighting efforts were dominated by telescope protection and “likely jeopardized the continued existence of the Mount Graham red squirrel and resulted in destruction or adverse modification of designated critical habitat…” Thesituationwasnodifferentin2004. "

John Blackburn wrote on Nov 4, 2009 11:17 AM:

" Very interesting. Here in the UK a lot of people want to see the (imported) Eastern Grey Squirrels exterminated in the view -mistaken, I believe - that in and of itself the native red squirrels will increase in numbers. They're in some danger of extinction. This story tends to support the view that reds need connected forest, preferably pine, to thrive. "

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