A Race To Beat Extinction

National Geographic chronicles the tale of scientists trying to save the remaining 50 obscure Attwater prairie-chickens in Texas.

1 minute read

March 5, 2002, 6:00 AM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"The sky is falling! This is no false alarm. There are about 10 other male Attwater’s and 20 females left in the wild. They inhabit two separate grassy patches in Texas totaling 12,400 acres (5,018 hectares), the remnants of six million acres (2,428,114 hectares) of coastal prairie that supported as many as a million Attwater’s a century ago. The grouse were over hunted early and hit by habitat loss every year since."

Thanks to Mindy Oliver

Monday, March 4, 2002 in National Geographic

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