OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Twelve more fishers have been released into Olympic National Park, continuing a three-year effort to reintroduce the animal to the state.
Eight were released in the Graves Creek drainage of the Quinault Valley and four in the Bogachiel River Valley on Thursday, said Barb Maynes, park spokeswoman, Friday.
About the size of a cat, fishers are members of the weasel family and are native to the forests of Washington, including the Olympic Peninsula. The species vanished from the state decades ago because of overtrapping in the late 1800s and early 1900s and habitat loss and fragmentation.
Since 2008, 77 fishers from British Columbia have been released in the park, including the 12 released last week.
Partners in the project hope to release at least 15 more animals about a month from now, which will be the final release for the project, Maynes said.
The goal is to re-establish a self-sustaining population in the park.
In order to track the population, each animal wears a small radio transmitter, allowing biologists to track and monitor its movements.
Fifteen animals are known to have died, while four more are presumed dead. Two animals’ radio signals have failed, and, despite extensive searching, the whereabouts of six fishers are unknown.
Some of the 22 fishers released in 2007 and 2008 have borne young. Last summer, biologists found three fisher birthing dens containing a total of at least seven kits, Maynes said.
“We began this project with the goal of releasing 100 fishers over the course of three winters,” said Olympic National Park Superintendent Karen Gustin in a statement.
“Thanks to the contributions and support from many partners in both Washington and British Columbia, we are very close to meeting our goal.”
Fishers were listed as a state-endangered species in 1998 by the state Fish and Wildlife Commission and were designated as a candidate for federal listing in 2004 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act.
Fisher reintroduction to the park is done through a partnership of agencies and organizations.
The park and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife are joint project managers and, along with the U.S. Geological Survey, are leading a research and monitoring program to evaluate the success of the reintroduction.
The British Columbia Ministry of Environment supports the capture and importing of fishers to Washington state.
Conservation Northwest, a nonprofit, provides financial and administrative support for the project’s operations in British Columbia and coordinates volunteers who track fisher activity through remote camera stations.
Washington’s National Park Fund provides financial support for monitoring the reintroduced fisher population.
The Doris Duke Foundation and the Wildlife Conservation Society — both nonprofit agencies — are providing support for this final year of fisher releases.
More information, including monthly updates on monitoring, is available online at http://tinyurl.com/yzbpne2.