University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Endangered Species Bulletins and Technical Reports (USFWS) US Fish & Wildlife Service May 2003 Endangered Species Bulletin, May/June 2003 - Vol. XXVIII No. 3 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/endangeredspeciesbull Part of the Biodiversity Commons "Endangered Species Bulletin, May/June 2003 - Vol. XXVIII No. 3" (2003). Endangered Species Bulletins and Technical Reports (USFWS). 10. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/endangeredspeciesbull/10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the US Fish & Wildlife Service at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Endangered Species Bulletins and Technical Reports (USFWS) by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Human beings are the only living things that care about lines on a map. Wild animals and plants know no borders, and they are unaware of the social and economic forces that deter- mine their future. Because May/June 2003 Vol. XXVIII No. 3 many of these creatures are migratory or distributed across the artificial bound- aries that we humans have drawn, they cannot be con- served without the coopera- tion of government, private sector, and scientific partners in each of the affected coun- tries. Such wide-scale partici- pation is essential for apply- ing an ecosystem approach to wildlife conservation. This edition of the Bulletin features some examples of cooperative activities for the survival and recovery of rare plants and animals in Mexico and bordering areas of the United States. U.S.U.S. FishFish && WildlifeWildlife ServiceService WASHINGTON D.C. OFFICE Washington, D.C. 20240 Steve Williams, Director Claire Cassel, Chief, Division of Partnerships and Outreach (703)358-2390 Gary Frazer, Assistant Director for Endangered Species Patrick Leonard, Chief, Division of Consultation, HCPs, Recovery, and State Grants Elizabeth H. Stevens, Deputy Assistant Director (703)358-2106 Chris L. Nolin, Chief, Division of Conservation and Classification (703)358-2105 Kathy Walker, Chief, Office of Program Support (703)358-2079 http://endangered.fws.gov/ PACIFIC REGION—REGION ONE Eastside Federal Complex, 911 N.E. 11th Ave, Portland OR 97232 California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, David B. Allen, Regional Director (503)231-6118 Washington, American Samoa, Commonwealth Steve Thompson, Manager, California/Nevada Office (916)414-6464 of the Northern Mariana Islands, http://pacific.fws.gov/ Guam and the Pacific Trust Territories SOUTHWEST REGION—REGION TWO P.O. Box 1306, Albuquerque, NM 87103 Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas H. Dale Hall, Regional Director (505)248-6282 http://southwest.fws.gov/ MIDWEST REGION—REGION THREE Federal Bldg., Ft. Snelling, Twin Cities MN 55111 Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Robyn Thorson, Regional Director (612)715-5301 Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin http://midwest.fws.gov/ SOUTHEAST REGION—REGION FOUR 1875 Century Blvd., Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30345 Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Kentucky, Sam Hamilton, Regional Director (404)679-7086 Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, http://southeast.fws.gov/ Tennessee, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands NORTHEAST REGION—REGION FIVE 300 Westgate Center Drive, Hadley, MA 01035 Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Mamie Parker, Regional Director (413)253-8300 Massachusetts, New Hampshire, http://northeast.fws.gov/ New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia MOUNTAIN-PRAIRIE REGION—REGION SIX P.O. Box 25486, Denver Federal Center, Denver CO 80225 Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Ralph O. Morgenweck, Regional Director (303)236-7920 Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/ ALASKA REGION—REGION SEVEN 1011 E. Tudor Rd., Anchorage, AK 99503 Alaska Rowan Gould, Regional Director (907)786-3542 http://alaska.fws.gov/ 2 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MAY/JUNE 2003 VOLUME XXVIII NO. 3 IN THIS ISSUE 4 Conserving Wildlife of the Americas: Mexico’s Strategic Role 6 Conservation Along the Border 7 The Kemp’s Ridley: Recovery in the Making 10 Conserving Cacti in México Telephone: (703)358-2390 Contributors Fax: (703)358-1735 Victor Lichtinger Douglas M. Krofta E-mail: [email protected] Susan D. Jewell Denise Stockton 12 Black-footed Ferrets Glen Knowles Ariel Rojo Editor Tracy A. Scheffler Eduardo Peters Thrive in Mexico Michael Bender Bryan Arroyo Rodrigo A. Medellín Patrick Burchfield Steve Walker Associate Editor Luis Jaime Peña Sarah E. Rinkevich 14 California Condors Susan D. Jewell Les Hodgson Keith Bashum Return to Mexico Patricia Luevano Mac Donaldson Layout Ben Ikenson Brian Czech Dennis & Sackett Design, Inc. J. Michael Lockhart 16 Nightly Wings, Nectar Sips Jesus Pacheco Subscriptions Manager Rurik List Germaine Kargbo Gerardo Ceballos 18 California Red-legged Frog: Jumping to Survival On the Cover A lesser long-nosed bat 20 Binational Conservation feeds on the nectar of a saguaro cactus flower, at Grows from the Ground Up the same time gathering and depositing pollen for the next seed crop. 22 Aquatic Life in the Sonoran Desert Photo © Merlin D. Tuttle, Bat Conservation International 24 Jaguar Conservation in the Opposite page Borderlands The pond at Quitobaquito provides vital desert wetland habitat for unique 26 Corridors for Migration fish, turtle, and snail species. Photo by Sue Rutman/NPS 27 Pronghorn Races Against Extinction 30 The Masked Bobwhite at The Endangered Species Bulletin welcomes manuscripts on a wide range of topics related to Buenos Aires NWR endangered species. We are particularly interested in news about recovery, habitat conserva- tion plans, and cooperative ventures. Please contact the Editor before preparing a manuscript. We cannot guarantee publication. Departments We also welcome your comments and ideas. Please e-mail them to us at [email protected]. The Fish and Wildlife Service distributes the Bulletin primarily to Federal and State agencies, 31 Regional News and and official contacts of the Endangered Species Program. It also is reprinted by the University Recovery Updates of Michigan as part of its own publication, the Endangered Species UPDATE. To subscribe, write the Endangered Species UPDATE, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1115; or call (734) 763-3243. 32 Box Score Printed with vegetable-based ink on recycled and recyclable paper. If you do not keep back issues, please recycle the paper, pass them along to an interested person, or donate them to a local school or library. ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MAY/JUNE 2003 VOLUME XXVIII NO. 3 3 Conserving Wildlife by Victor Lichtinger of the Americas: Mexico’s Strategic Role Mexico’s geography is one of the keys to under- standing why it comes fourth on the list of the world’s biologically “megadiverse” nations–around a dozen countries, mostly in the tropics, that harbor some 70 percent of all the world’s biological diversity (ecosystems, species, and genes). With its northern half bordering the marine life). Deep marine trenches with United States, Mexico shares arid deserts, thermal vent ecosystems independent of Mediterranean scrub, and temperate solar energy add to the enormous forests with continental North America. complexity of our biodiversity. In the south, tropical rainforests have And it is precisely because Mexico’s penetrated northwards from South biodiversity is derived from this mix of America. This arises because Mexico elements from geographically distant straddles two floristic kingdoms: the regions that we are strategically placed Boreal (or Nearctic), which extends to conserve an important share of the across North America, Europe, and ecology and wildlife of the Americas. Russia, and the Neotropical, centered We are committed to act as a bridge in primarily on the Amazon basin and the many ways. Andean foothills. To this end, Mexico’s Environment Between these extremes of latitude, Ministry has implemented special tropical dry forests and montane cloud programs to conserve the ecology and forests grow in climatic zones that favor environment of the northern states unique combinations of species from bordering the U.S., in active coordination both north and south. Cacti and tropical with similar programs enacted by the trees dominate in the former, while oaks U.S. government. In our southern and sweetgums shelter tree ferns, brome- states, the Mexican program of the liads, and epiphytic orchids in the latter. Mesoamerican Biological Corridor seeks Marine biodiversity is also extremely to ensure that the ecological functional- high, as Mexico’s coastline is washed by ity of tropical ecosystems shared with both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans Central America is conserved intact, (with their particular complement of along with the huge diversity of wildlife whales, sea turtles, dolphins, and fish), for which they provide a habitat. as well as the Caribbean Sea (where These programs, together with our Mexico is host to the second largest increasingly effective system of Protected coral barrier reef in the world), and the Natural Areas (totaling nearly 40 million Gulf of California (“the aquarium of the acres (16,187,480 ha) in all ecosystem world,” with its unique ecology and types), our efforts to promote sustainable 4 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MAY/JUNE 2003 VOLUME XXVIII NO. 3 forestry and fishing activities, and