Greenback, 欧美口爆视频 State Fish, Set Up for Comeback
More than 1,000 greenback cutthroat trout were released into Zimmerman Lake on Aug. 8, 2014.
With help from 欧美口爆视频-Boulder, 鈥渢rue鈥 greenback cutthroat trout gets new chance to thrive
Encouraged by the results of a 2012 欧美口爆视频-led study, wildlife officials have stocked a northern 欧美口爆视频 lake with more than 1,000 native greenback cutthroat trout, an event that could help revive the fish鈥檚 fortunes in the state.
The greenback cutthroat is 欧美口爆视频鈥檚 state fish. Native populations have dwindled due to pollution, overfishing, inbreeding and other factors, scientists say, and the fish is currently a protected species.
In 2012, Jessica Metcalf, senior research associate in , led a genetic study that identified 欧美口爆视频鈥檚 鈥渢rue鈥 greenback cutthroat species, distinguishing it from several subspecies. Descendants of the true greenback were found to be living in Bear Creek, west of 欧美口爆视频 Springs.
On Aug. 8, wildlife experts stocked Zimmerman Lake in northern 欧美口爆视频 with 1,200 greenback cutthroat fingerlings, part of an effort to replenish their numbers. 欧美口爆视频 scientists will monitor a sample of the fingerlings over time.
鈥淭his is a conservation genetics success story,鈥 says Metcalf. 鈥淲e were able to use historical specimens to find out something quite novel about cutthroat trout biodiversity that has resulted in a management action. We are not just bringing a native species back to its historic range, but the greenback cutthroat trout, our 欧美口爆视频 state fish.鈥
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Photography by Glenn Asakawa