20 Yr Government Endangered Trout Restoration Project A Failure

Exotic Animal Newsflash:

It was reported last week that for the past 20 yrs, there has been an effort in Colorado to restore an endangered native

trout, the Greenback Cutthroat Trout, but studies show that in some of the waterways, the wrong trout was stocked.

The more common Colorado River cutthroat trout was used mistakenly, as they look similar.

.

The Greenback Cutthroat Trout is shown in the photo above. The more common Colorado River Cutthroat Trout is shown in the photo to the right.

The University of Colorado lead a 3yr study that shows this effort has been a failure in improving the status of the greenback cutthroat trout subspecies.

This trout is native to drainages of the South Platte and Arkansas rivers in Colorado, and a small part of Wyoming.

The greenback cutthroat trout was actually declared extinct

in 1937, due to pollution, competition from non-native species of fish and, of course, overfishing. However, some remnant populations were found in the 1950s in tributaries, and were then used in federal and state hatcheries in an effort to repopulate their native habitat. This subspecies was then added to the endangered species list in 1978.

This is a huge blemish on the face of the study, but let’s all hope that the government, nonetheless, moves ahead to help repopulate this threatened subspecies before it’s too late and it officially goes extinct.

To read more on this article: Wrong fish used to save species

Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Salmoniformes
Family: Salmonidae
Genus: Oncorhynchus
Species: O. clarki
Subspecies: O. c. stomias

This subspecies of trout now occupies less than 1% of it’s historical range. This subspecies of the cutthroat trout has the largest spots, and has the most brilliant spawning coloration.

What Can You Do?
1. Be educated as to what this fish looks like if you fish in these river areas. If you catch one of these trout, release it immediately.
2. Help support local and worldwide animal conservation organizations.

I hope you enjoyed today’s installment of Exotic Animal Lover. Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. If you are a fisherman and fish these waterways, be informed! This is a great Pocket Guide to help you assess what species a fish is, and estimate the age of the fish you catch. Get it here:

Western Trout Identification: Identify and Estimate the Age and Weight of Golden Trout, Steelhead, Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, West Slope Cutthroat Trout and Other Cutthroat Species

Technorati Tags: endangered species, threatened wildlife, trout, fish, greenback cutthroat trout, Colorado river cutthroat trout, North American animals, animal news, fishing

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