M-56 was spotted on Mt. Bierstadt in 2012 by Cameron Miller, wildlife photographer.
After treking from Grand Teton National Park through Wyoming and Rocky Mountain National Park, M-56 was seen by Cameron Miller on Mt. Bierstadt in 2012. M-56's radio collar was still working and so wildlife officials could psoitively idetnify him. Later his collar stopped functioning and no one knew where he was. By spring 2015 he had traveled back north to end up in N. Dakota where he was shot by a rancher who alleged the critter was harassing his cattle. He was positively identified as M-56.
His journey of several thousand miles shows how resilient and vigorous these aniamals are and also higlights the need for porteced cores and connecting wildlife passages to ensure that they will be around in the future.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Releases Wildlife Priorities Plan
The Denver Post reported: "Colorado unveiled wildlife-saving priorities for the next decade, aiming to ensure survival of 210 imperiled species including lynx, wolverines, prairie chickens, frogs, ptarmigan, and spotted bats.
A state "Wildlife Action Plan" calls for increased monitoring and research, and habitat restoration, to reach the goal of not having to list the species for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have signed off on Colorado's plan, making the state eligible for $1 million a year in federal grants.
"Our primary goal is to keep common species common — to preclude the need to list them as endangered species," said Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologist Eric Odell, manager of species conservation programs for the state."
