PHOENIX — The endangered Mount Graham red squirrel is showing a notable increase in their population three years after their habitat was nearly wiped out by the 2017 Frye Fire in the Pinaleño Mountains of southeastern Arizona.
According to an annual survey, conducted jointly by the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD), Coronado National Forest, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Arizona Center for Nature Conservation – Phoenix Zoo, and the University of Arizona, the population of Mount Graham red squirrel has returned to the triple digits since they were severely impacted by the Frye Fire.
In 2016, there were an estimated 252 squirrels. Immediately following the Frye Fire estimates dropped to a mere 33 individuals. Typical ranges since 2000 fall between 200 and 300 squirrels.
This annual red squirrel survey consisted of visiting all known middens, which are areas where red squirrels store or cache their cones. Activity at these middens is used to estimate the population size.
The subspecies was listed as endangered in 1987. Mount Graham red squirrels live only in the upper elevation conifer forests of the Pinaleño Mountains and feed primarily on conifer seeds. This subspecies is highly territorial and has lower reproductive rates than red squirrels in other locations.
Long-term impacts to Mount Graham red squirrels and their habitat include high-intensity wildfires and associated insect infestations, possible competition with Abert’s squirrels and poor cone crops caused by drought, all of which influence population size. Biologists continue to explore new methods to conserve and protect the species, including continued squirrel research, developing long-term forest management strategies across the fire-impacted landscape such as re-seeding and planting coniferous trees, and a managed care breeding program.