Merit Academy partners with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to study wild turkeys

WOODLAND PARK, Colo. (KRDO) – Some students in Woodland Park are getting the opportunity to participate in a one-of-a-kind-research project, all due to a partnership between Merit Academy and Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW).

On Monday, ninth and tenth-grade students from Merit Academy captured and released 17 wild turkeys on a ranch near Divide after strapping them up with satellite backpacks and GPS collars.

The group will now be following their next moves for the duration of the school year as part of a project called "Understanding Wild Turkey Behavior with Radio Telemetry."

From the data they obtain, the students will develop maps of the birds' daily and seasonal movements, roosting sites and nesting sites.

CPW says with the students' help, it will be able to make wildlife management decisions pertaining to the region's growing wild turkey population.

The project is funded by a nearly $10,000 STEM grant from Toshiba America Foundation, secured by Merit Academy science teacher Tim Lundt.