Assessment of lesser prairie-chicken translocation through survival and lek surveys

Abstract

Translocation is a management tool used to restore or augment wildlife populations, but outcomes of translocations are often poorly documented and can have varying levels of success for improving wildlife population declines. The lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) is a prairie grouse endemic to the southern Great Plains. In response to declining abundance and distribution, in 2023 lesser prairie-chickens were listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act in different states. Translocation is a potential management response to population declines when there is an availability of unoccupied habitats, but translocation efficacy has not been evaluated for lesser prairie-chickens. We translocated 411 lesser prairie-chickens seasonally from 2016-2019 and monitored the translocated lesser prairie-chicken population from 2017–2022. To assess translocation as a management tool for lesser prairie-chickens, we estimated survival for 2017–2020 and conducted lek surveys during 2017–2022. Over a fifth (22.8%, n = 94) of translocated birds either died or went missing within the first 2 weeks following release. Survival rates of translocated birds during the breeding (0.44 ± 0.02 [SE]) and nonbreeding (0.55 ± 0.03 [SE]) seasons were relatively low compared to nontranslocated lesser prairie-chickens in other studies (0.63–0.93 for breeding season; 0.43–0.87 for non-breeding season). Twenty-seven percent of translocated birds survived to the breeding season after release (i.e., >1 year). Translocated lesser prairie-chickens initiated 28 lekking sites over the study period. We estimated 77% of males available >2 weeks post release participated in lekking activity. The number of leks and male high counts on leks in the study area increased after translocation, peaking one year post-translocation (an overall increase of 250% and 340%, respectively). However, both the number of leks and male high counts decreased (48% and 39%, respectively) within 3 years after translocation cessation. Establishment of leks and increasing lek attendance directly following translocation initially suggested that translocation could be a viable management tool. However, survival rates after translocation and declining lek counts following translocation indicates that the increased population abundance and occupied range from this translocation effort may be unsustainable. Our results highlight the necessity of monitoring to determine outcomes of a large lesser prairie-chicken translocation. Other management strategies, such as targeted grassland restoration and management in areas of greatest lesser prairie-chicken density, could be more beneficial for conservation of lesser prairie-chicken populations.