CUMBERLAND, OH – The Wilds, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Cincinnati Zoo, Fernald Preserve and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife will be releasing the federally and state endangered American burying beetle pairs at the Wilds on June 6 and then at Fernald Preserve later this month. These organizations have been partnering for more than eight years to reintroduce this endangered species to its native range in Ohio.
For this event, biologists, staff and volunteers will be the digging holes, placing a food source in the hole with an American burying beetle pair and then covering the pair with soil. These conditions encourage the beetles to repopulate. Teams will monitor for beetle larva in the upcoming weeks after the releases.
The American burying beetle, also commonly referred to as a carrion beetle, was once distributed throughout Ohio as well as in 34 other states, the District of Columbia and three Canadian provinces. The last American burying beetle reported in Ohio was in 1974 near Old Man’s Cave in Hocking County. The American burying beetle was listed as a state and federally endangered species in 1989.
There will also be an optional tour of the beetle rearing facility and The Wilds grounds after the June 6 release.
The Wilds is a private, nonprofit conservation center located on nearly 10,000 acres of reclaimed mine land in rural southeastern Ohio. It was created as the conservation center of the future by a group of civic leaders, political leaders and zoo professionals who believed that a serious scientific approach was required to find solutions to environmental concerns.