Pennsylvania Game Commission to repopulate the Allegheny Woodrat
(WHTM) – The Pennsylvania Game Commission, Maryland Zoo, and the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s Wildlife Futures Program have teamed up in the Allegheny Woodrat Working Group to help rebuild the dwindling populations of Allegheny woodrats.
Within the Woodrat Captive Breeding Program (WCBP) started by the coalition, a small number of wild woodrats will form a colony at the Maryland Zoo. Pups from the colony will stay at the Maryland Zoo for a few weeks before being moved to a soft-release pen that will help them acclimate to the wild before being released.
Once ranging from southwest Connecticut to northern Alabama, the Allegheny woodrat is now listed as endangered in Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York as well as being listed as a species of conservation concern in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, and West Virginia.
The Game Commission says the woodrat is showing a 70% decline in states like Pennsylvania over the past 40 years.
The WCBP hopes to aid in re-introducing genetic diversity into woodrat populations that have been separated by habitat loss, invasive species, and disease.
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