Lesser prairie chicken population numbers dropped by more than 50 percent over the past year, according to a study

The finding raises questions about the adequacy of voluntary conservation measures proposed today for the rare grouse in a final rangewide conservation plan intended to preclude the need for Endangered Species Act protections. The study, by Western EcoSystems Technology Inc. of Laramie, Wyo., estimates the total population size at 17,616 individuals in 2013, more than a 50 percent drop from the 2012 estimate of 34,440 birds. The study also estimated there to be 2,036 occupied breeding areas (known as leks) in 2013 — a decline of more than 30 percent from the 2012 estimate of 2,930 leks. Lesser prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido) have been on the waiting list for federal protection since 1998. The species was proposed for listing as a result of a 2011 settlement between conservation groups and the Fish and Wildlife Service to speed protections for hundreds of species around the country.

Source: The Center for Biological Diversity, 24 September 2013
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2013/lesser-prai…