Borderlands Foundation for Understudied Plants and Animals Announcement

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The Arizona Chapter of The Wildlife Society (AZTWS) is a sponsor of the Borderlands Foundation for Understudied Plants and Animals (BFUPA), which is an Arizona-based foundation whose mission is to conduct natural history investigations of understudied plants and animals in the American Southwest (including Mexico).

A charter for BFUPA has been prepared and is available to view on the AZTWS website here: https://aztws.com/resources/borderlands-foundation-for-understudied-plants-and-
animals-bfupa/. As an AZTWS member, there are opportunities for you to get involved. Consider projects that you would be interested in pursuing and submit a proposal for funding to the AZTWS BFUPA Committee Chair (Kay Nicholson, [email protected]). You can also support BFUPA with a tax-deductible donation to fund projects that BFUPA is undertaking. Donations by credit card are accepted online (go to https://www.southwestwildlife.org/donate/ and fill out the online form, be sure to indicate that the donation is for BFUPA in the box labeled “Additional Details”) or by check (made out to “Borderlands Foundation for Understudied Plants and Animals” and mailed to Linda Searles, Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center, 27026 N 156th St, Scottsdale, AZ 85262). Following is a summary of what BFUPA is currently doing:

  1. Successfully conducted an x-ray aging technique for jackrabbits; working on same for bobcats.
  2. Funding a dietary comparison of antelope and black-tailed jackrabbits where the two species overlap in Altar Valley.
  3. Conducting a dietary study of cottontails in Altar Valley.
  4. Help fund a study of white-sided jackrabbits in Mexico.
  5. Fund a search for the Omlitepic jackrabbit in Guerrero, Mexico – a species which had not been seen in more than 60 years.
  6. A long-term small mammal study in Altar Valley being conducted by Randy Babb.
  7. A group of retired Arizona Game and Fish Department biologists submitted a proposal to the 2019 AZGFD Heritage Fund titled “Bobcats on the Wildlands/Urban Interface Near Tucson”under the BFUPA/Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center 501-c umbrella.
  8. Planning a study of rehabilitated bobcats that have been released back into the wild.
  9. Conducted a survey and developed a conservation plan for the white-tailed jackrabbit in North America.
  10. Conducted two workshops at Arizona State University on how to prepare mammal study skins.