John Flores: Small steps bring La. species back from brink

It was one of those evenings down at the camp where everyone sipped their favorite libation and listened to the old men talk. The talk came to fishing alligators and that’s when my somewhat glossy-eyed father-in-law, began to tell us a story.
Part of being a good storyteller is the ability to use facial and sometimes physical expressions that help the listener to get a sense of the tale. My father-in-law was a master at this.
He raised his arms and hands and pretended to be gently rowing a pirogue. He referred to it as “pulling” a pirogue.
He mentioned how he loved to hunt alligators and would start out at sunset and pull all night just to shoot a four-footer. This was back in the 1950s and early 1960s.
We were mesmerized by the story, but it ended on a serious note when he said, “We’d of killed the last one, if they hadn’t closed the season.”
Essentially, wild alligator harvest basically went unregulated throughout much of the 1900s until the season was closed in 1962. Several years later, the reptile was eventually placed on the Endangered Species List in 1967, while wildlife managers worked to save and restore the species.
By 1987 the American alligator population had recovered, and it was removed from the Endangered Species List. The population went from fewer than 100,000 animals across the southeastern United States to a population today that is well over 2 million. Moreover, nine southeastern states now hold some sort of controlled season.
It’s success stories like this that quite often biologists and study leaders with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and other agencies get little credit for.
Louisiana’s state bird is the brown pelican, but by 1963 they were literally extirpated from the state. Brown pelicans were severely impacted by the use of DDT, an insecticide that wasn’t banned until 1972. The chemical bioaccumulated into the pelican population, leading to nest failure.
In 1966 a group of biologists from the LDWF teamed up with some biologists from Florida and came up with the idea that chicks from Florida could be relocated and raised in Louisiana.
The first release took place in 1968 on Queen Bess Island near Grand Isle and between 1968 and 1975, 705 pelicans were released on the island. By 1989 there were 600 nests that fledged approximately 800 young on the island.
Eventually, other relocations took place along the Louisiana coast like Wine, Whiskey and Racoon Islands south of Houma. And, in 2009 the brown pelican was delisted and removed from the Endangered Species List.
In 1963 there were just 417 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the United States. Like the brown pelican, their numbers were also decimated by the use of DDT in addition to illegal hunting and habitat loss. In 1978 the American bald eagle was placed on the Endangered Species List.
Here in Louisiana, the number of breeding pairs had dwindled to single digits. With DDT being banned, wildlife officials took on the task of protecting the few remaining nests and letting nature take its course. In 2007 the USF&WS delisted the bald eagle and the rest is as they say history. Today, Bald Eagle numbers are increasing and have soared to 316,700 with 71,400 breeding pairs.
By 1980 it is estimated that 80% of the Louisiana black bear’s habitat had been modified or destroyed which ultimately led to a decline in population. In 1992 the Louisiana black bear was placed on the List of Threatened and Endangered Wildlife.
Through a number of partnerships with private landowners, state, federal, university, and non-governmental organizations the road to recovery began. From 2001 through 2009 reintroduction projects took place, along with establishing some 100,000 acres of habitat.
Populations of black bears now can be found in Point Coupee, Concordia, Tensas, Avoyelles, Madison, West Carroll, and St. Mary Parishes. And, though black bears know no boundaries, many reside on Tensas NWR, Bayou Teche NWR, Richard K. Yancey WMA, and Big Lake WMA.
In 2015, the Louisiana black bear was delisted, a short 23 years after being threatened. The estimated population is now considered to be between 500 and 750 bruins across the state.
In 1939, John J. Lynch flew over the southwest Louisiana marshes, very near to where White Lake Conservation Area is today. The U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey biologist counted thirteen Whooping Cranes. By 1949, one crane remained on the landscape.
It was captured in 1950 and the lone bird was transported to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge near the Texas Gulf Coast. Aransas NWR held the last migrating Whooping Crane population in the U.S.
Sixty years later, in 2010, as a result of a joint effort between the LDWF and USF&WS the decision was made to reintroduce whooping cranes in southwest Louisiana. Quite often the job of biologists is an arduous and slow process. Success is often measured in very small increments.
Since the start of the project, there have been 162 cranes released, hatched, and fledged, or transferred from Florida to the Louisiana population. Currently 71 survive and are monitored daily.
Whoopers are not the best nesters and are finicky when it comes to habitat they prefer. They also struggle as parents, where they quite often have difficulty fledging two chicks.
Whooping cranes have also been indiscriminately shot.
Nonetheless, biologists persevere. With time and patience hopefully one day like the bald eagle, brown pelican, American alligator, and Louisiana black Bbear maybe the whooping crane will be so well established it to will be a success story. And, while sipping a libation down at the camp the younger ones will be listening to our stories about how it all happened.