OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Biologists confirmed Thursday the first sightings of newborn fishers in Washington state since reintroduction of the species began two years ago.
Photographs downloaded from an automated camera placed deep in the park’s wilderness show a female fisher carrying four kits down a large snag.
The female shown in the photographs is one of the first fishers reintroduced to the park, said Barb Maynes, park spokeswoman, in a statement.
The fisher, which was from Canada, was released near Antelope Creek in the Elwha Valley on Jan. 27, 2008, as part of a multi-partner recovery plan to restore the once-native animal to its historical habitat.
The photographs, taken May 23, 2009, show the female carrying four kits, one at a time, down a snag and out of the frame to an unknown location.
The camera and the den are located in a remote area of the park southeast of Port Angeles.
“Finding fisher kits in Olympic National Park is a tremendously exciting milestone in the fisher restoration process,” said Olympic National Park Superintendent Karen Gustin.
“Locating the mother’s den tree was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but after several weeks of careful tracking and wilderness hiking, biologists were overjoyed to have photographs of kits.”
Fishers, which are large, stocky members of the weasel family, usually give birth in late March, using tree cavities as dens for one to four kits.
Females often use several den sites while raising kits, moving them to dens closer to the ground as they become larger and more mobile.
“This is a very exciting outcome. Reproduction is a key measure of a successful reintroduction,” said Phil Anderson, state Department of Fish and Wildlife interim director.
“The photos of these kits and indications that other females may be denning are signs that the fishers are adapting well to their new habitat and give great hope for the future of fisher recovery in Washington.”
Project biologists continue to track the movements of 36 fishers released since early 2008, and are investigating several other females believed to be denning.
Additional fishers will be released into the park this winter, the third and final year of the reintroduction effort.
Fisher monitoring is expected to continue for another 10 years.
Fisher reintroduction to the park and the state is through a partnership of agencies.
Project management is jointly provided by the park and the state fish and wildlife department, while Conservation Northwest provides financial and administrative support for the project’s operations in British Columbia.
The USGS, fish and wildlife and the park are leading the research program, including monitoring, to evaluate the success of the reintroduction. The Makah tribe is providing assistance in monitoring.
The research is funded primarily by USGS, Washington’s National Park Fund, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Conservation Northwest through the Doris Duke Foundation and the Wildlife Conservation Society, with additional financial and logistical support from a wide variety of groups for management and research tasks.
Fishers are native to the state’s forests of Washington, including the Olympic Peninsula, but disappeared from the state decades ago.
They were listed as a state endangered species in 1998.
