CMZoo launches study aimed at protecting threatened owl species

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is working to collect data on the movement of one threatened species after zoo members voted to fund GPS tracking technology to monitor Mexican spotted owls.

Zoo researchers are hoping to learn what sort of habitat features Mexican spotted owls are using to nest, and what they are avoiding to determine how to best protect the species and their habitat.

Accrording to the National Park Service, the Mexican spotted owl is listed as a threatened species by both the U.S. and Mexican governments, and is considered threatened in Colorado, Utah, and the Navajo Nation and a species of concern in Arizona and New Mexico.

Globally, Mexican spotted owl populations are predicted to decline 25–50% over the long-term.

This is the first study to use GPS tags on Mexican spotted owls. The zoo said the technology allows conservationists to track the owls’ locations every hour throughout the night for multiple months through the breeding season.

So far, they have GPS tagged 43 Mexican spotted owls in the study locations. They track data during the owls’ nesting season, collecting one to two months of data per bird.

By tagging the owls, researchers know their current locations, and can ensure that mitigation and lumber work avoids their nesting habitats.

Recently, conservationists reported some interesting results – a few of the tagged owls were using ’disturbed areas,’ which includes parts of the forest disturbed by timber cuts, fire and insect-related tree mortality.

These initial findings suggest that the owls may prefer mixed-use forest habitat over pristine, untouched forests. Surprisingly, it seems that some of the owls actually prefer forests that are used by humans and other animals.

"These are still very wild forests, but they are used responsibly for lumber, and they benefit from selective thinning for wildfire mitigation," the zoo said in a release.

CMZoo said that if researchers conclude that the owls prefer these sites, more of the forest could be mitigated against wildfires and used for sustainable lumber, while still supporting the owls.