38 Prairie Dogs In Yukon Moved To Natural Habitat In Northwestern Oklahoma

The ultimate fate of a prairie dog colony in Yukon is now known.

These wild animals have been a hot topic for years as new developments kept forcing them to migrate to the Northwest near Route 66. Last week, many people noticed cages at the location off of Sara Road, wondering what was happening.

According to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, some of them were relocated to a new home. “All right guys now don't take off,” said Kathy Barrett, who feeds the prairie dogs every day. “Come on, we're not going to bother you.”

Barrett says she loves animals but has developed a soft spot for an urban colony of black-tailed prairie dogs in Yukon.

“They are my babies, but everybody has a responsibility to wildlife,” said Barrett.

Last week, the ODWC says it worked with a research team from the University of Louisiana to capture 38 prairie dogs using baited traps.

“While the prairie dogs were under anesthesia, they drew blood samples and they took a small tissue sample for their data to look at genetics and disease resistance,” said Kurt Kuklinski, Wildlife Diversity and Research Supervisor for the ODWC.

Kuklinski said his team then took the animals in carriers to a former colony site in northwestern Oklahoma.

“It's not good for the prairies to be missing such an awesome creature on the landscape,” said Kuklinski.

He says by putting them back in their natural habitat, the hope is they will thrive.

“Where they are right now in that urban environment, they're not able to expand their colony beyond that single lot and they face threats from traffic and can't move and do well as a colony there,” he said. “Where we've re-located them, they've got hundreds to thousands of acres to expand.”

As for the rest of them in Yukon, several hundred prairie dogs remain and will still pop up for visitors like Reina Flores.

“You see how they stand? And there's some over,” Flores pointed out. “They look like they're dogs, they stand up, they're very cute,”

And as Barrett says, very resilient.

“They're survivors, that's for sure,” she said. “I want it to continue, I want people to have the joy of seeing wildlife and just getting back to nature.”

The Department of Wildlife says none of the prairie dogs were harmed during the move. They say it could take years to move the rest of them out of Yukon.

Photos courtesy of ODWC.