Jump to content
Fly Tying
Sign in to follow this  
fshng2

A trout species thought to be extinct was discovered alive and well

Recommended Posts

https://the-journal.com/articles/146360

Rare trout will be protected in Southwest Colorado creek.

A trout species thought to be extinct was discovered alive and well last year in a small stream in Southwest Colorado. Now, the waterway will be preserved to protect the fish.

The Colorado Water Conservation Board earlier this month unanimously approved an instream flow protection for a 2-mile stretch of the creek where the trout were found a designation that says water must stay in the river for the benefit of the environment, barring future development that would take water out.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I support conservation efforts to protect endangered species. Big cats, elephants, whales etc. But one slightly separate sub-species of a widely stocked fish? As long as the conservation efforts don't become some major world-wide crisis for this one, poor little fish ... no problem.

 

If it blows up into a tree hugger's call to end all fishing ... then let that creek dry up!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

"tree hugger".... Made me go back and read Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tinturn Abbey, 1798 (William Wordsworth).

 

Ahhh, refreshed.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Based on what I've read about the politics of water rights in Colorado, that sounds like a major victory! Good for them.

 

Mike, I normally agree with you, but I have to respectfully disagree on this one. If we wait until a species becomes endangered before we do anything to preserve it, that's usually going to end up being too little, too late. Besides--not to split hairs or anything-- this particular species was thought to be extinct. It doesn't get much more "endangered" than that! I'm no biologist, but I do know that species diversity is crucial to healthy ecosystems. If we are eventually left with only species that we've decided to raise in captivity (e.g. hatcheries), those species will eventually become susceptible to the diseases and mutations that come from inbreeding, won't they?

My position is basically this: there are WAY too many humans on the planet for anyone's good right now. If a decision needs to be made about whether to save a threatened species whose continued survival will ultimately benefit the entire ecosystem, or to continue to do what's best for humans....well, that's an easy call for me.

 

I'm glad they're leaving the water in the stream for the fish. :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

... there are WAY too many humans on the planet for anyone's good right now.

 

I'm glad they're leaving the water in the stream for the fish. smile.png

We aren't in disagreement, Bryon. I'm all for saving animals over people. I am happy they're creating this sanctuary for these fish. If it ends there, then more power to all involved. There isn't a problem, anywhere in the World, that isn't caused by mankind.

 

If some celebrity takes up the chant and we start seeing starving little trout, sitting with a fly covered bowl of rice, and the celebrity saying, "For as little as a cup of coffee a day ... you can help one of these poor fingerlings." At that point, then I stop rooting for the stream. There are plenty of cutthroat trout in the world. No one will miss this sub-species that no one missed when it was thought to be extinct.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Based on what I've read about the politics of water rights in Colorado, that sounds like a major victory! Good for them.

 

Mike, I normally agree with you, but I have to respectfully disagree on this one. If we wait until a species becomes endangered before we do anything to preserve it, that's usually going to end up being too little, too late. Besides--not to split hairs or anything-- this particular species was thought to be extinct. It doesn't get much more "endangered" than that! I'm no biologist, but I do know that species diversity is crucial to healthy ecosystems. If we are eventually left with only species that we've decided to raise in captivity (e.g. hatcheries), those species will eventually become susceptible to the diseases and mutations that come from inbreeding, won't they?

My position is basically this: there are WAY too many humans on the planet for anyone's good right now. If a decision needs to be made about whether to save a threatened species whose continued survival will ultimately benefit the entire ecosystem, or to continue to do what's best for humans....well, that's an easy call for me.

 

I'm glad they're leaving the water in the stream for the fish. smile.png

+2 on this one.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Truth be told they REALLY need to come up with a better procedure of how a species is deemed extinct. For the longest time the process was if a species had not be seen/documented for 50 years then it would be considered extinct. But back in the 90's they changed it to .....“there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.” Which is a terrible way to deem a species extinct. There's so many species that they are finding on very regular bases that were thought to be extinct yet now found live ones.

 

Any of you guys watch that show last year on Animal Planet called "Extinct or Alive" with that guy who was the grandson of the guy that found a live coelacanth? That was a great show sucked that it was cancelled after only one season. Anyway on the 4th or 5th episode of that show he found a friggin wolf that was supposed to be extinct. I can't remember the type of wolf or where in the world he was, it was some jungle somewhere. But if something as big as a wolf was said to be extinct without them knowing it was alive just imagine how many other smaller species are said to be extinct which actually aren't. Kind'a cool to think about whats still out there.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Steeldrifter,

I believe you may be thinking about the Red Wolf frrom SE USA. I believe it was declared extinct, but don't know if that status has changed

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Found it. My mistake on the wolf, it was a leopard not a wolf. He was in Tanzania and got footage of a Zanzibar leopard alive on his trail cam he set up. Here's the video of him showing the footage. It's 7 mins long but its really cool to see if you have a few mins to watch the whole thing

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Red Wolves arent extinct to my knowledge. About 15-20 years ago, the US Forestry service released a bunch in Eastern NC to try to repopulate the area. It wasn't a huge success, but there are breeding pairs in NC now. The main problem is that the Wolves have started interbreeding with the Coyote population and there is now a hybrid Red Wolf/Coyote species running around NE NC.

The Red Wolf was originally a hybrid between a Gray Wolf and a Coyote. Now they are as much Coyote as Wolf, at least in NC.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

They werent hybrids Mad Duck, at least not any time in recent history. They were a separately adapted and evolved canine, alongside wolves and yotes, not from them.

 

 

The only viable wild population is in Va as far as I know. There are some on an island off the coast of Florida, but theyre well isolated. And a population was recently discovered on the coast of TX thats about 2/3-3/4 pure which is a big deal and good news.

 

The effort to establish them back into GSMNP was a failure and theyre few and far between now.

 

 

That fella, Forrest Galante, also rediscovered one of the Galapagos tortoise species living in a tiny patch of remote, less than ideal habitat on the island. They removed the underweight female to a facility where she can be brought back to good heath while they scour the island for a male to mate her with.

 

 

Mike, we will have to disagree. The charismatic megafauna you listed off get all the funding and attention needed to be funneled into efforts to save these smaller, seemingly obscure species. Working with reptiles and amphibians I see this on a daily basis. It is really the wonderful diversity of life that makes our big floating rock so special and I feel we should do what we can to preserve every aspect of it we can.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

 

That fella, Forrest Galante, also rediscovered one of the Galapagos tortoise species living in a tiny patch of remote, less than ideal habitat on the island.

 

 

Ah thats right I forgot about that. I think that was just this past feb/march too wasn't it. I like that guy man they really should have kept his show going. Crazy how all these bozos on reality shows like those waste of skin kardashians have a show for years and years but a great educational show that actually does something dies after a season.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

They werent hybrids Mad Duck, at least not any time in recent history. They were a separately adapted and evolved canine, alongside wolves and yotes, not from them.

According to what I have read, The Red Wolf is an ancient sub-secies of the Coyote and Gray Wolf that is considered an Admix species, but is unique enough to be considered a separate species


The only viable wild population is in Va as far as I know. There are some on an island off the coast of Florida, but they're well isolated. And a population was recently discovered on the coast of TX thats about 2/3-3/4 pure which is a big deal and good news. The only viable population is in Coastal NC on the Albemarle/Pamlico peninsula. There are 35-50 Breeding Red Wolves left there.



That fella, Forrest Galante, also rediscovered one of the Galapagos tortoise species living in a tiny patch of remote, less than ideal habitat on the island. They removed the underweight female to a facility where she can be brought back to good heath while they scour the island for a male to mate her with.


Mike, we will have to disagree. The charismatic megafauna you listed off get all the funding and attention needed to be funneled into efforts to save these smaller, seemingly obscure species. Working with reptiles and amphibians I see this on a daily basis. It is really the wonderful diversity of life that makes our big floating rock so special and I feel we should do what we can to preserve every aspect of it we can.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...