Category: Focus: Wildlife
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15 Wolves. Three Flights. One Historic Return to Colorado.
An endangered gray wolf looks back after being released into the Colorado backcountry. Photo by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. In early January, LightHawk volunteer pilots once again took to the skies in support of a historic conservation effort, transporting gray wolves to Colorado as part of the state’s voter-mandated reintroduction program. For the second time,…
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Meet Myrtle: One Abalone with a Big Role in Recovery
Myrtle is no ordinary LightHawk passenger. She is one of just 10 wild-origin white abalone living in captivity, making her an important part of the effort to save the species. LightHawk volunteer pilot Michael Baum flew Myrtle from Long Beach to UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, where she joined the White Abalone Captive Breeding Program.…
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Small Passengers, Big Stakes for Mexican Wolves
In early May, LightHawk once again took part in one of North America’s most remarkable species recovery efforts, flying Mexican wolf pups for cross-fostering into wild dens. Mexican wolves came perilously close to disappearing from the wild in the United States and Mexico. Their recovery began with a captive breeding program founded with just seven…
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Bringing Bobwhite Quail Back to Pennsylvania
In March, several masked bobwhite quail took an important step toward returning to the wild, traveling flight from Florida to Pennsylvania for release. LightHawl Volunteer pilot Benjamin Cohen, joined by his son Casey, transported the birds in his Beechcraft Bonanza, where Pennsylvania Game Commission officials met them for the final journey to their release site.…
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On The Wing News – Winter 2024
Solutions from the Sky Expanding Wildlife Conservation Welcome to the first edition of On the Wing, LightHawk’s quarterly newsletter, highlighting our growing conservation work. In this issue, we look at LightHawk’s wildlife program, where our unique aviation capabilities are playing a vital role in preventing endangered species, like California condors, Bobwhite quail, black-footed ferrets, whooping…