AUSTIN — As occasional bear sightings continue to crop up in the west and southwestern portions of the state, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) encourages residents to practice bear safety as the likelihood of spotting a bear in a populated area increases. Black bears are native to Texas and are a part of our natural heritage and the Texas ecosystem.
AUSTIN – With ongoing public health concerns continuing across the state, the August meeting of the Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW) Commission scheduled for August 26-27 will be streamed virtually on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s website.
TERLINGUA— The interior of the Big Bend Ranch State Park Complex will be closed for the safety of park visitors during wildlife surveys Aug. 9 – 16. During the surveys, staff will be counting desert bighorn sheep by helicopter and performing the lethal removal of non-native aoudad (barbary sheep) when encountered.
AUSTIN – Well distributed and timely precipitation across much of Texas in the spring, along with positive long-term growth among the state’s white-tailed deer population, has set the stage for a favorable 2020-21 hunting season. Spring rains allowed many regions of the state, including South Texas, Edwards Plateau and areas west to recover from last year’s very dry fall and winter, leading to an abundance of quality forbs and shrubs, both of which are critical for deer nutrition. These conditions have lent to a good start to antler growth and positive outlook for fawn recruitment numbers.
AUSTIN— Since April, there has been an uptick in black bear sightings in Bowie, Grayson and Titus counties in northeast Texas. The bears are thought to originate from the neighboring states of Oklahoma and Arkansas, or possibly Louisiana, where resident bear populations are well established and expanding. As the numbers of this iconic species grows, dispersing black bears find their way across state lines into Texas, signaling the possibility of its eventual permanent return to our landscape.
AUSTIN — For the first time in its 20-year history, a lucky winner has a chance to claim not one, but two one-of-a-kind experiences through the same package as part of the Big Time Texas Hunts drawing. One fortunate outdoorsman or woman and a guest can claim a guided saltwater fishing trip in tandem with a new big game hunting package at Powderhorn Wildlife Management Area, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s newest WMA on Matagorda Bay.
AUSTIN— Once considered to be extinct in Texas, black bears have steadily recolonized the Big Bend region and other areas of west and southwest Texas since the last decade of the twentieth century. The natural restoration of populations in west Texas has recently resulted in bears being spotted in more populated areas. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologists say the dry spring weather conditions have left bears on the move in search in food leading to an increase in sightings in the area.
AUSTIN — On May 16, researchers banded two females and one male 26-day-old northern aplomado falcon chicks at Mustang Island State Park. This banding is part of ongoing restoration efforts by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the nonprofit The Peregrine Fund and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
May 12, 2020 (AUSTIN) — With peak boating season around the corner, Texans recreating on the coast are likely to spot iconic coastal birds like brown pelicans, roseate spoonbills, black skimmers and reddish egrets nesting in dense colonies, called rookeries, which can consist of thousands of birds and a multitude of other species on barrier islands and smaller islands in Texas bays. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is encouraging Texas boaters and anglers to watch out for these nesting birds while on the coast, so they aren’t disturbed during this sensitive time.
AUSTIN – Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) through the Texas Nature Trackers program is inviting Texans to participate in the fifth annual City Nature Challenge, Friday, April 24 through Monday, April 27. This global community-based scientific effort, co-organized by San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, invites current and aspiring citizen scientists of all ages and backgrounds to observe and submit pictures of wild plants, animals and fungi using the free mobile app iNaturalist.