Wildlife Research: Wildlife Surveys

Staff members in the DNR´s Bureaus of Endangered Resources, Integrated Science Services, and Wildlife Management conduct a number of recurrent Wildlife Surveys.

These surveys generally include population status information, harvest summaries, population analyses, and hunter surveys, as well as analysis of wildlife damage claims and nuisance complaints. Semi-annual Wildlife Survey Reports are prepared for each survey effort and are distributed to managers, researchers, administrators, and other DNR employees.

Wildlife Survey Reports are intended to provide current survey information for management decisions. Thus, these reports provide current data and enough interpretation to understand the results (i.e. they are not intended to be definitive analyses of all survey data that has been collected). The surveys and the resulting reports allow the DNR to use the most current information to manage birds, including establishing harvest limits and seasons that are scientifically defensible.

Through these surveys, the DNR has obtained a considerable amount of information on mammals, birds, and a variety of endangered and threatened species.