Husbandry of wild-caught greater sage-grouse

Authors

Paul Oesterle, USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research Center
Robert McLean, USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
Michael Dunbar, USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research Center
Larry Clark, USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research CenterFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

January 2005

Comments

Published in Wildlife Society Bulletin

Abstract

This study reports the first successful husbandry and breeding in captivity of wild-caught greater sage-grouse (Ccntroccrcus urophasianus). In October 2003, 2 1 hatch-year greater sage-grouse were trapped in northwestern Nevada and transported to Fort Collins, Colorado. We held grouse in pens at the United States Department of Agriculture's National Wildlife Research Center for 8 months. We offered a varied diet, including native food items such as sagebrush (Arternisia tridentata and A. tripartita) and yarrow (Achilles millefolium). We housed grouse in a large flight pen and allowed to them freerange as one flock. Mortdlity rate was 16.7%. Several of the grouse exhibited breeding behavior, and 13 eggs were laid. We describe the techniques used to house and feed wild-caught sage-grouse. This study has conservation implications for captive breeding of this species of concern.