![]() The snakes were raised at Auburn University and the Atlanta Zoo during their early life stages.Įach captive-raised snake with this project has been implanted with a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT tag) for permanent identification as well as a radio transmitter to track them and assess their survivorship. The 18 snakes released Wednesday were bred in captivity from wild-caught snakes from Georgia through the cooperation of Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Fort Stewart. "We envision a landscape in south Alabama where indigo snakes hunt the longleaf pine forests for rattlesnakes and rodents and people appreciate these resources that allow them to maintain their cultural connection to the land and their rural way of life." ![]() "We are fully dedicated to the restoration of eastern indigo snake populations in Alabama," said Chris Jenkins, executive director of Project Orianne. Project Orianne uses a comprehensive approach to conserving the Eastern indigo snake including captive breeding, reintroduction, land protection, management and restoration, inventory, monitoring and research programs. The Kaplan family founded the organization when the daughter (Orianne) developed a fondness for the Eastern indigo snake and wanted to help. Project Orianne is a wildlife conservation organization dedicated to the range-wide conservation of the Eastern indigo snake and its habitats. "However, our Division is responsible for all wildlife resources." "Most people associate the Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries with hunting and fishing related activities," he said. WFF Division Director Corky Pugh says this project puts emphasis on a part of the division the public might not know about. The State Wildlife Grants Program was established by Congress as a funding source to identify and focus management on species in greatest need of conservation. This was made possible by a grant through the State Wildlife Grants Program and private contributions from Project Orianne. In 2007, the project was expanded by WFF through a contract with Auburn University to start an Indigo snake reintroduction project. After two years of field surveys, no evidence of indigo snakes was found in Alabama. Five years ago, nongame wildlife biologists with WFF began research on the Eastern indigo snake. Several different state, federal and private organizations have contributed to the project that makes the release possible. To return the Eastern indigo snake to the south Alabama landscape is to restore a piece of the natural history of the state," he said. "The loss of this snake from Alabama and other areas is the loss of a significant part of the biodiversity of the forest. According to Alabama Natural Heritage Program Zoologist Jim Godwin, a healthy population of Eastern indigo snakes in a longleaf pine forest setting is an indication of an ecologically functional forest. Some may wonder why an increase in this snake's population is beneficial for the environment. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act. In 1978 it was listed as "Threatened" by the U.S. In all likelihood, it has been extirpated from Alabama and Mississippi. Today the indigo snake survives in peninsular Florida and southeast Georgia, and persists in the Florida panhandle in low numbers. Historically, the Eastern indigo snake lived throughout Florida, the coastal plain of southern Georgia, extreme south Alabama and extreme southeast Mississippi. ![]() The release is just one part of a multi-year project and the beginning of what Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) biologists hope will be a new start for the snake's survival in the state.
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