Collection
Wildlife & Animals
95 Collection Items
- Return of rare Ojibwe horse lifts spirits — but still needs help
MPR’s Dan Kraker reports on a rare breed that has adapted to the forests along the Minnesota-Canadian border. It's called the Lac la Croix Pony, or the Ojibwe horse. A few decades ago there were only four of them left. Kraker interviews those dedicated to reviving the population and help Ojibwe people to reconnect with the horses.
- Chronic Wasting Disease: Learning from CWD's spread in Wisconsin, part 2
MPR’s John Enger traveled to Wisconsin to see what he could learn from that state's efforts to contain Chronic Wasting Disease in it’s deer population.
- Chronic Wasting Disease: Experts worry fatal brain disease could threaten Minnesota's $1B deer-hunting industry, part 3
MPR’s John Enger traveled to Wisconsin to see how Chronic Wasting Disease has changed everything for one deer hunter.
- Chronic Wasting Disease: How is Minnesota affected by CWD?, part 1
MPR’s John Enger traveled to Wisconsin to see what exactly Chronic Wasting Disease is; how it is impacting Wisconsin…and potentially in Minnesota.
- Common carp are being removed from Minnesota lakes by the truckload
MPR’s Elizabeth Dunbar reports on the removal of common carp from Stieger Lake in Victoria, Minnesota. The fish have become a nuisance in some lakes because they're so good at moving around and destroying the habitats of more desirable fish species.
- Chu Xiong shares his fishing tradition
As part of Water Month at MPR, Chu Xiong of St. Paul shares his love for fishing and how it connects to Hmong culture. Xiong also expresses the importance of respecting nature as resource.
- 'Vampire of the Great Lakes' still haunts Lake Superior fish
MPR’s Dan Kraker looks into the ongoing battle to control sea lamprey in the Great Lakes. It was one of the earliest aquatic nonnative species to invade the U.S., long before zebra mussels and Asian carp garnered headlines. Its also been one of the most destructive, wiping out lake trout populations.
- Susie Island returned to the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer interviews April McCormick, a member of the Grand Portage Band, who worked closely with the Nature Conservancy on bringing Susie Island back under the band’s control.
- Tough times, overfishing shake Superior's herring fleet
MPR’s Dan Kraker reports on the decline of lake herring, called cisco in Lake Superior. The fish typically aggregate in thick schools in the late fall when they swim to shore to spawn. But overfishing in parts of Superior regulated by Wisconsin, and a decline in fish survival, have caused cisco numbers on the Minnesota side of the lake to plummet, putting the lake's small but iconic commercial fishery in jeopardy.
- Under cover of darkness, researchers capture, track loons in Minnesota
MPR’s Dan Gunderson rides along with Kevin Kenow, a research wildfile biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, who nets a loon on South Turtle Lake in Otter Tail County. Kenow is looking for special tags that track where loons travel and how deep they dive.