Carnivore Conservation in a Changing World

Greetings from Denver!  After spending most of Saturday traveling, I landed in Denver in anticipation of the 2009 Carnivore Conference: Carnivore Conservation in a Changing World, sponsored by Defenders of Wildlife.

Yesterday started off with a group trip to the Denver Zoo, which was a winter wonderland after the snow we had overnight.  I will definitely blog more about the zoo after returning home.  [Unfortunately I left my camera cable in New York and want to wait to write about it until I can do the day justice with photos.]

This morning officially kicked off the 7th annual carnivore conservation conference.  The theme of this year’s conference addresses the conservation challenge of climate change, and the implications that is has for the conservation of ALL carnivore species, not just those in the polar regions.

The day began with a representative from HawkQuest showcasing one of their captive-bred Harris hawk, which flew directly over my head.  HawkQuest is an organization that educates the public about carnivores, especially raptors.  ”Educating our youth, is paramount to this process,” said an employee of Defenders of Wildlife, whose name I failed to catch.

Next up was a representative from Wolf Park, a non-profit organization located in Indiana, to award the second annual Erich Klinghammer Award, named after  Dr. Erich Klinghammer, the behaviorist who founded Wolf Park in 1972.  This year’s recipient was Nina Fascione, the Vice President of Field Conservation for Defenders of Wildlife.

Eventually we got to our plenary session, “Ecological Consequences of Large Predator Removal: A Comparison of Five U.S. National Parks”, led by Robert Beschta and William Ripple, both of Oregon State University.  After reading about both of these men and their research in “Where the Wild Things Were” by William Stolzenburg on my way to Denver, it was a delight to hear them speak in person about their research on trophic cascades in Yellowstone National Park.  [More on this later!!]

However, it is now time for me to go back to my sessions….