Field Notes
Photo Contest: Celebrate Summer with Your Favorite FotoFauna Photographs
August 19, 2021As summer comes to a close, let’s pause to celebrate the species we’ve seen on our wildlife cameras! This year, staff at Sky Island Alliance have watched bear cubs follow their mothers across greening landscapes, packs of coyote and javelina drink from nearby water bowls, gray foxes return victorious from a hunt—and, above all, enjoyed…
Read more »
Summer Intern Stories: The Writing in the Sand—Wildlife Tracking in Aravaipa Canyon
August 16, 2021Written by Aleidys Lopez Romero, a 2021 Sky Island Alliance Binational Internship Program participant. While exploring the extravagant views offered within Aravaipa Canyon [this summer], Sky Island Alliance staff along with the Round River Conservation Studies group decided to go on a short wildlife tracking expedition. After a little bushwhacking, a rattlesnake sighting, and greeting several…
Read more »
Tips for Protecting Wild Cats #1: Say No to Using Rat Poison
August 13, 2021We believe in a world where iconic wild cats thrive, a world where park staff and local communities are united and provide safe passage for wildlife across public lands and private ranches in Northern Mexico and Southern Arizona. Since we hope to achieve this vision through our 1,000 Cats Project, we are launching this series…
Read more »
Monsoons, Meso-carnivores, and Bears, Oh My! Two Months of Camera Data from the Coronado National Memorial
August 11, 2021A little over two months ago, Sky Island Alliance staff and intrepid volunteers extended our Border Wildlife Study east into the Coronado National Memorial in the Huachuca Mountains with Block 17. When we placed these cameras, the region was dry as a bone. With all the drought-deciduous oaks leaves dropping their leaves and the grass…
Read more »
We just had Our First Border Wildlife Study Snake Sighting
August 10, 2021On July 11, almost 16 months after the start of our Border Wildlife Study, our trail cameras detected the first snake of the study — a Sonoran whipsnake (Masticophis bilineatus)! Photo caption: A Sonoran whipsnake slithering down a fallen log (see left side of log). The Sonoran whipsnake is a common species seen in the…
Read more »
Notes from the Field: Our First Look at the Wildlife in Coronado National Memorial
July 7, 2021Last month, we placed five new wildlife cameras in Coronado National Memorial. These camera additions extend our Border Wildlife Study eastward into the zone where the border wall was extended by the Trump administration in 2020. The cameras are placed within oak woodland habitat on the southern steep slopes of the Huachuca Mountains—about 1.5 miles…
Read more »
Webinar Recap: Binational Experts Discuss Sky Island Biodiversity and Conservation
July 6, 2021In April, our Conservation Director Paulo Quadri had the pleasure of moderating the University of Arizona’s three-part webinar series on Sky Island biodiversity and conservation. Diverse panelists from different universities, nonprofits, research labs, and government agencies across the U.S. and Mexico joined to discuss the scientific work they’re doing to help protect and restore the Sky Island region on a transnational scale. Each session consisted…
Read more »
Sky Island FotoFauna: ¿Cómo influyen los seres humanos en la vida silvestre?
June 28, 2021Leyenda: ¡Una cámara del Estudio de Vida Silvestre Fronteriza de la directora del Programa SIA, Emily Burns, detecta un avistamiento poco común! ¿Te ha pasado esto? Te sientas para ver qué especies de vida silvestre han aparecido en tu cámara trampa en las últimas semanas y de repente te das cuenta de que tu propio…
Read more »
Sky Island FotoFauna: How do Humans Influence Wildlife?
Caption: A Border Wildlife Study camera detects a rare sighting of SIA Program Director Emily Burns! Has this happened to you? You sit down to see which wildlife species have shown up on your trail camera in recent weeks and suddenly realize that your very own house cat has made an unexpected cameo on your…
Read more »
Six Ways We can Help Save the Wild Cats of the Sky Islands
June 24, 2021Video Transcript: Every wild cat’s life is a journey in search of water, food, shelter, and mates. In our modern world, cats face many obstacles that cut them off from resources they need to thrive … or even cut their lives short. And yet there is so much that we together can do save the…
Read more »