The alligator snapping turtle lives throughout all of the state; Louisiana and neighboring states Arkansas and Mississippi are the only U.S. states where alligator turtles are found throughout the entire state.
The fauna of Louisiana is characterized by the region's low swamplands, bayous, creeks, woodlands, coastal marshlands and beaches, and barrier islands covering an estimated 20,000 square miles (52,000 square kilometers), corresponding to 40 percent of Louisiana's total land area. Southern Louisiana contains up to fifty percent of the wetlands found in the Continental United States, made up of countless bayous and creeks.
The Creole State has a humid subtropical climate, perhaps the best example of a humid subtropical climate of all the Southern United States with long, humid and hot summers and short, mild winters. The subtropical characteristics of the state are due in large part to the influence of the Gulf of Mexico, which at its farthest point is no more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) away. Louisiana's varied habitats — tidal marshes, bayous, swamps, woodlands, islands, forests, and prairies — offer a diversity of wildlife.
Some of the most common animals found throughout all of the parishes include otter, deer, mink, muskrat, raccoons, opossums, rabbits, squirrels, nutria, turtles, alligators, woodcocks, skunks, foxes, beavers, ringtails, armadillos, coyotes and bobcats. Deer, squirrel, rabbit, and bear are hunted as game, while muskrat, snakes, nutria, mink, opossum, bobcat, and skunk are commercially significant for fur. Prized game birds include quail, turkey, woodcock, and various waterfowl, of which the mottled duck and wood duck are native. There are several endemic plants and animals in Louisiana that are found nowhere else on Earth; an example could be the Louisiana bluestar or the white leucistic alligator.[2] The Pearl River map turtle and the ringed map turtle are only found in Louisiana and neighboring State of Mississippi.
Louisiana contains a number of areas which are, in varying degrees, protected from human intervention. In addition to National Park Service sites and areas and the Kisatchie National Forest, Louisiana operates a system of state parks, state historic sites, one state preservation area, one state forest, and many Wildlife Management Areas. The Nature Conservancy also owns and manages a set of natural areas.
State ecology
An aerial view of the Atchafalaya Swamp, the largest swamp in the U.S.
Much of the state's lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh and swamp. The northern parts of Louisiana mostly consist of woodlands which are home to deer, squirrels, rabbits, bears, muskrats, mink, opossums, bobcats, and skunks. Louisiana's forests offer a mix of oak, pine, beech, black walnut, and cypress trees. In the Piney Woods in the Ark-La-Tex-region, mammals such as the North American cougar, gray fox, feral hogs (razorback), and snakes such as the western cottonmouth, the western worm snake, the Louisiana pine snake, as well as other animals are common.[4]
Alligators are common in Louisiana's extensive swamps, bogs, creeks, lakes, rivers, wetlands, and bayous. Other water-loving reptiles such as the alligator snapping turtle live in the Louisiana swamps. The alligator snapping turtle is characterized by a very large head and three rows of spiked scutes. These wetlands of Louisiana make ideal homes for several species of turtles, crawfish and catfish – all of which are popular Acadian foods.
Among invasive species that thrive in the wetlands of Louisiana is the nutria, a South American rodent that was likely introduced when individual animals escaped from fur farms.
Mammals
The Louisiana black bear was designated the Official State Animal in 1992.
Louisiana has two species of rabbits: eastern cottontails and swamp rabbits. Although the cottontail is considered more of an upland species and the swamp rabbit a wetland species, both species occur throughout the state. Rabbits have high productivity rates in Louisiana when habitat and weather conditions are good.
The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) is one of sixteen currently recognized subspecies of American black bear.
The Louisiana black bear once ranged throughout the State of Louisiana and parts of adjacent neighboring Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas. The black bear was common at the time of early colonization, serving as food for Native Americans for generations.
An 1890 record shows 17 parishes containing bears, all of them by the Mississippi-border and the Atchafalaya region. It was reported that the most extensive areas of bottomland hardwoods in the state have "at least a few bears", with the greatest number found in the denser woodlands along the Tensas, Red, Black, and Atchafalaya Rivers. In the late 1950s, bears occupied habitat in the Tensas-Madison area in northeast Louisiana and in the lower fringes of the Atchafalaya Basin.
Black bear could be legally hunted in parts of Louisiana through the late 1980s. One of the last organized bear hunts in Louisiana occurred December 15, 1955. During this hunt, five bears were harvested in the Lake Providence area. It was recommended to the Wildlife Commission that the bear season be closed. Bear hunting was closed the following season and remained closed until 1961. The season was opened again from 1962 to 1965 with hunting permitted only in northeast Louisiana and in the coastal parishes. The hunting season was again closed from 1966 to 1974. It was reopened in 1975–1987 with hunting restricted to the Atchafalaya Basin.[12]
The Louisiana bear hunting season has remained closed since 1988. From 1964 through 1967, 161 black bears were live-trapped in Cook County, Minnesota and released in the Mississippi and Atchafalaya River bottoms of Louisiana in an effort to restock black bear to the state. By 1968 there was evidence that the translocated bears were reproducing. However, most of the relocated bears were killed on roads, as nuisance animals, or during recapture.[12]
As of 2016, Louisiana black bears are no longer considered endangered by the Endangered Species Act.[13]
Reptiles
Wild leucistic alligators are only found in Louisiana.
The largest reported American alligator was a male killed in 1890 on Marsh Island in Louisiana, and reportedly measured at 19 feet (5.8 meters).[17]
Birds
The brown pelican is the official state bird of Louisiana.
Approximately 160 species of birds are year-round residents or probable confirmed breeders in Louisiana and another 244 are known to regularly migrate through or winter in the state or its immediate adjacent waters.[8] There are 69 species on the CWCS species of conservation concern list of which 42 species are considered critically threatened, imperiled or rare, according to the Louisiana Natural Heritage Program. Shorebirds and songbirds constitute the majority of species. In 1902, the eastern brown pelican was made a part of the Seal of Louisiana and, ten years later, in 1912, the pelican and her young adorned the flag of Louisiana as well. The official nickname of Louisiana is the Pelican State.
Shore birds are abundant in Louisiana and the most common is the great white egret. This large, all-white heron has an impressive wingspan and stature. The egret occurs often in the wetlands of Louisiana and coastal areas that provides it with plenty of fish, amphibians and small mammals to feast on. This bird is also the official symbol of the National Audubon Society.
The American bald eagle nests in southeastern coastal parishes and, occasionally on large lakes in northern and central parishes, but these nests are less successful. Some of America's tallest birds, such as the great blue heron and great egret, cannot resist the fishing opportunities that exist in the Louisiana swampland. Raptors such as the osprey, American black vulture and barred owl live in the marshes of southern Louisiana. Migratory waterfowl and songbirds often make stopovers or actually spend the winter in these wetlands.
The white perch, sometimes called sac au lait from Cajun French, was designated the official state fish of Louisiana in 1993.[19] Coastal beaches are inhabited by sea turtles. Freshwater fish include bass, crappie, and bream. Red and white crawfishes are the leading commercial crustaceans.
The bowfin, known by many other names such as the mudfish, dogfish, grinnel, grindel, jack, jackfish, cypress trout, cotton fish, and in South Louisiana; choupique (pronounced shoe-pick or shoe-peg),[21][22] or chew-pic,[23] is found in many areas of Louisiana.
Endangered species
The gray fox lives throughout Louisiana, but is still threatened. They are most common in forested northern areas.
The historic range of the Florida panther extended from Florida to Louisiana throughout the Gulf Coast states and Arkansas. Today, the only place with wild Florida panthers is the southwestern tip of Florida. The Florida panther is considered of historical occurrence in Louisiana. The historic range included as far west as Western Louisiana and the East Lower Mississippi River Valley through the southeastern states. Even though numerous sighting reports continue to surface annually throughout its historic range, it is unlikely that viable populations of the Florida panther presently occur outside of the State of Florida. The Louisiana black bear has been taken off the endangered species list. Mississippi diamondback terrapin is recognized as a "species of concern" in Louisiana, but is found on the Mississippi border.
The nutria, also known as coypu or river rat, is an invasive species. Its destructive feeding and burrowing behaviors make this invasive rodent a pest throughout Louisiana.Native to South America, Quaker parrots are considered an invasive species and are known to damage fruit crops. These parrots have nested in the New Orleans metropolitan area since the 1960s.
Nutria
Tabasco tycoon and naturalist Edward McIlhenny brought thirteen adult nutria from Argentina to his home in New Iberia, during the 1930s, for the fur farming industry.[27] Two years later, one hundred and fifty got out of the pen, supposedly escaping during a storm. The nutria reproduced at a high rate, increasing by the thousands every year. By the 1960s the number ranged to as high as twenty million, and increasing. By the time the government instituted a control program, the nutria was destroying Louisiana marshes and wetlands, causing widespread erosion. In the 21st century, the nutria is one of the most common and despised pests in the Bayou State.[28]
The story of the nutria is not unique. Many species of birds, mammals, fish, and plants have been introduced into the Louisiana environment in the past two centuries. Exotic species, or species that have been introduced to areas outside their native range, take heavy tolls on the ecosystems they colonize. Some invaders, such as the leafy vine kudzu (Pueria lobelia), destroy the habitat for resident wildlife. Other species fiercely compete with native plants and animals for resources.
By some estimates, exotic species pose the second most serious threat to endangered species after habitat loss. Nutria were introduced into coastal marshes from Latin America in the mid-1900s, and their population has since exploded into the millions. They cause serious damage to coastal marshes and may dig burrows in levees. Hence, Louisiana has had a bounty to try to reduce nutria numbers.
Large alligators feed heavily on nutria, so alligators may not only control nutria populations in Louisiana, but also prevent them spreading east into Florida and possibly the Everglades. Since hunting and trapping preferentially take the large alligators that are the most important in eating nutria, some changes in harvesting may be needed to capitalize on their ability to control nutria.
Monk parakeet
An agricultural pest in its native South American range, the monk parakeet was first brought to the U.S. as a cage bird. They were so popular that over 60,000 were imported between 1969 and 1972. By the 1980s it had already been released in many parts of the country and had established small breeding colonies. Twenty years later, monk parakeet numbers have increased exponentially but their distribution remains spotty.
Monk parakeets tend to be restricted to urban areas where they feed and nest in ornamental palm trees, occupying a niche that no indigenous bird holds. So far, their distribution in Louisiana has been limited almost exclusively to the City of New Orleans, where they have had no adverse effects on local wildlife. If their numbers increase, however, monk parakeets could pose a serious threat to agricultural areas, possibly becoming as much of a pest here as they already are in their native range.
Red fire ant
Native to South America, the red fire ant has flourished in many southern U.S. states since its introduction in the 1930s. Superficially similar to most other ants, the fire ant is a vicious predator, attacking birds, rodents, and larger mammals in swarms.
One study of white-tailed deer found that death rates for young deer were twice as high in areas with fire ants as in uninfested areas. In Louisiana, the spread of fire ants has been linked to the decline of the loggerhead shrike and some species of warblers. The red fire ant has replaced nearly half the native insect species in some areas it has colonized.
An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae of the order Crocodilia. The two extant species are the American alligator and the Chinese alligator. Additionally, several extinct species of alligator are known from fossil remains. Alligators first appeared during the late Eocene epoch about 37 million years ago.
The American alligator, sometimes referred to as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile native to the Southeastern United States and a small section of northeastern Mexico. It is one of the two extant species in the genus Alligator, and is larger than the only other living alligator species, the Chinese alligator.
The swamp rabbit, also called the cane-cutter, is a large cottontail rabbit found in the swamps and wetlands of the southern United States. The species has a strong preference for wet areas, and it will take to the water and swim.
The Piney Woods is a temperate coniferous forest terrestrial ecoregion in the Southern United States covering 54,400 square miles (141,000 km2) of East Texas, southern Arkansas, western Louisiana, and southeastern Oklahoma. These coniferous forests are dominated by several species of pine as well as hardwoods including hickory and oak. Historically the most dense part of this forest region was the Big Thicket though the lumber industry dramatically reduced the forest concentration in this area and throughout the Piney Woods during the 19th and 20th centuries. The World Wide Fund for Nature considers the Piney Woods to be one of the critically endangered ecoregions of the United States. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines most of this ecoregion as the South Central Plains.
The wetlands of Louisiana are water-saturated coastal and swamp regions of southern Louisiana, often called 'Bayou'.
The Atchafalaya Basin, or Atchafalaya Swamp, is the largest wetland and swamp in the United States. Located in south central Louisiana, it is a combination of wetlands and river delta area where the Atchafalaya River and the Gulf of Mexico converge. The river stretches from near Simmesport in the north through parts of eight parishes to the Morgan City southern area.
The fauna of the United States of America is all the animals living in the Continental United States and its surrounding seas and islands, the Hawaiian Archipelago, Alaska in the Arctic, and several island-territories in the Pacific and in the Caribbean. The U.S. has many endemic species found nowhere else on Earth. With most of the North American continent, the U.S. lies in the Nearctic, Neotropic, and Oceanic faunistic realms, and shares a great deal of its flora and fauna with the rest of the American supercontinent.
The Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge is located about 30 miles (48 km) west of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and one mile (1.6 km) east of Krotz Springs, Louisiana, lies just east of the Atchafalaya River. In 1988 under the administration of Governor Foster the "Atchafalaya Basin Master Plan" was implemented that combined the 11,780-acre (4,770 ha) Sherburne Wildlife Management Area (WMA), the 15,220-acre (6,160 ha) Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge, and the 17,000-acre (6,900 ha) U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Bayou Des Ourses into the Sherburne Complex Wildlife Management Area.
Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge is a 23,000-acre (93 km2) region of fresh and brackish marshes located within the city limits of New Orleans. It is the largest urban wildlife refuge in the United States.
Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge is one of five refuges managed in the North Louisiana Refuge Complex and one of 545 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System. It was established in 1997 through a unique partnership with the city of Monroe, Louisiana. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a free 99-year lease to manage the city-owned lake.
The Delta National Wildlife Refuge is located 10 miles (16 km) east of Venice, Louisiana along the Mississippi River. The area formed when a breach in the natural levee of the Mississippi River occurred in 1862 approximately 100 miles (160 km) below New Orleans, Louisiana. The 48,000-acre (190 km2) refuge was purchased in 1935 with the primary purpose to provide sanctuary and habitat to wintering waterfowl. Access is by boat only.
Lake Ophelia National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1988 to protect the Mississippi/Red River floodplain ecosystem. The refuge is located in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, east central Louisiana. The refuge is named for its most prominent water body, the 350-acre (1.4 km2) Lake Ophelia that was at one time a channel of the nearby Red River of the South.
The fauna of Toronto include a variety of different species situated within the city limits. Toronto contains a mosaic of ecosystems that includes forests, rivers, streams, and wetlands, which allows it to support a large variety of fauna. Approximately 87 to 90 per cent of the city's indigenous flora and fauna inhabit the city reside within the Toronto ravine system. The city's ravine system, creeks and rivers are wildlife corridors that allow animals to travel from one area of the city to another. Although most animals in Toronto reside within the ravine system, several animals also live in the city's urban environment and parks.
The Sherburne Complex is a joint land management venture of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that began in 1983. The area consists of 43,637 acres (17,659 ha), and is managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The complex is located in the Morganza Flood way system of the Atchafalaya Basin about 30 miles (48 km) west of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and actually extends a little south of the I-10 Atchafalaya Basin Bridge at Whiskey Bay, Louisiana. The bridge crosses the Whiskey Bay Pilot Channel. Located on the graveled LA 975, the west boundary is on the east side of the Atchafalaya River with the east boundary being the East Protection Levee. The complex stretches just north of old highway 190, and a short distance to the south of I-10. The nearest town is Krotz Springs to the north off US 190.
The fauna of Illinois include a wide variety of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish and insects.
The fauna of the State of California may be the most diverse in the United States of America. Of the Lower 48 conterminous states, California has the greatest diversity in climate, terrain and geology in general. The state's six life zones are the lower Sonoran (desert); upper Sonoran ; transition ; and the Canadian, Hudsonian, and Arctic zones, comprising California's highest elevations. California’s diverse geography gives rise to dozens of different ecosystems, each of which has its own unique native plants and animals. California is a huge state, the 3rd largest in the U.S., and can range broadly in habitat type.
The Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge is a large area of marshland in Cameron Parish and Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States. It was donated to the state with certain provisions as to its management as a wildlife sanctuary. It is a biodiverse habitat and is visited annually by many migratory birds. Much research is undertaken into marshland management and alligator ranching, and the income from the sale of alligators contributes to conservation of the marshland.
Pearl River Wildlife Management Area, also known as Pearl River WMA, is a 35,619 acres (14,414 ha) tract of protected area near Slidell in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, in the United States. The WMA is managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF)
Joyce Wildlife Management Area is a 42,292 acres (17,115 ha) protected area in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, owned by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. It is located 10 miles (16 km) south of Hammond and features a boardwalk leading into the swamps on the northwest corner.
Gorge Wildlife Park is a privately-owned sanctuary in the Australian state of South Australia. It is at Cudlee Creek in the Adelaide Hills and continues to be operated by the same family that established it in 1965. It is 30 km northeast of Adelaide. Situated on 14 acres of land, under shaded trees, paths meander among the largest privately owned collection of Australian animals. The park provides contact with a range of Australian native animals as well as exhibits of Australian and exotic animals and birds. A feature is the opportunity for visitors to hold a koala.
↑ Final Environmental Impact Statement. Revised Land and Resource Management Plan. Kisatchie National Forest. Forest Service, Southern Region, Pineville, LA (Report). United States Department of Agriculture. 1999.
↑ Richey, Emma Cecilia; Kean, Evelina Prescott (1915). The New Orleans Book. L. Graham Company, Limited, Printers. p.95. louisiana has species of mammals.
↑ choupique= shoe pick or shoe-peg: How We Talk: American Regional English Today (by Allan A. Metcalf: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2000), pp 34- Retrieved 2017-08-08
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