matthew kauffman

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First-ever atlas charts big game migrations across Wyoming

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Elk migrate along a high mountain pass outside Cody, Wyo. (Travis Zaffarano/Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit)

CODY, WYO. — A mule deer doe cautiously makes her way along a riverbank, sniffing the wind before moving out from the cover of willows to cross a busy highway. A passing motorists slows just in time to spot the animal as it hesitates, then bolts across the road. It’s a familiar scenario in Wyoming, but what drivers in the spring and fall may not realize is that road crossing is a small part of a seasonal migration that spans hundreds of miles. And if that doe is wearing a GPS tracking collar, there’s a good chance she’s generating an avalanche of data about her movements. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Research, Science & Nature, Wildlife, atlas, matthew kauffman, migration, wild migrations, wyoming migration initiative

Statewide research program tracks Wyoming wildlife migrations

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Researchers with the Wyoming Migration Initiative work with an elk captured in March near Dubois. The animal will be analyzed, collared and released so its movements can be tracked.

Springtime in Wyoming brings melting snow and the first shoots of green vegetation peeking through a landscape left barren by winter. For deer, elk, moose and other migrating ungulates, the change in seasons prompts a familiar journey in search of greener pastures. But spring is also an exceptionally busy time for wildlife researcher Matthew Kauffman and his colleagues, as they fan out across the state in an effort to track and document as many of those migrations as possible. For nearly three years, biologists with the Wyoming Migration Initiative have followed elk around Dubois, trailed moose through the Snowy Mountains, pursued mule deer across the Red Desert and worked to chart the movements of other herds on the move. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Wildlife, matthew kauffman, migration, tedx cody, wyoming migration initiative

Speakers chosen for April 17 TEDx conference in Cody

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A collared deer leaps away from conservation biologist Matthew Kauffman after being captured and processed this month as part of the Wyoming Migration Initiative. Kauffman will be among eight speakers featured April 17 during TEDx Cody, a conference focused on short presentations centered around a theme of "Depicting the West."

A diverse roster of speakers will explore topics ranging from Wyoming's big game migrations to leadership secrets of the Wild West next month as part of Cody's first TEDx conference. TEDx Cody is a local, self-organized event licensed under the nonprofit TED organization that holds globally heralded conferences featuring short talks aimed at communicating powerful "ideas worth spreading." Cody's conference will feature eight speakers discussing the event's theme: "Depicting the West." Conference organizer John Wells said the April 17 event will "reflect a cultural shift under way at the heart of the Western experience." Continue Reading →

Filed under: Gateway Towns, cody, events, matthew kauffman, tedx