PORT ANGELES — About 15 fishers will be released into Olympic National Park on Sunday as part of a reintroduction of the species to the area, which began early this year.
About five of the cat-sized animals will be released into three areas of the park: the Elwah, Sol Duc and Hoh River Valley, said Olympic National Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes.
The park’s goal is to release about 100 of the animals over a period of three winters.
A total of 18 of the animals, each fitted with a tiny radio transmitter, were released in the park in January and March, having been brought from Canada.
It was Washington state’s first reintroduction of the species, which once was native to the park.
Of those 18, three have died and two of the animals’ radio transmitters don’t work anymore, but the park’s biologists believe that they are still alive, Maynes said.
81 percent survival
“We’re very pleased at how well the fishers have survived — an 81 percent survival rate is quite high and is very encouraging as we begin year two of this project,” said Olympic National Park Superintendent Karen Gustin.
One fisher was killed by a bobcat in the Elwha Valley, and one was run over by a car while crossing U.S. Highway 101 near Forks.
A third animal died in a remote area, and biologists with the U.S. Geological Survey, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the park — who are overseeing the project — have not yet recovered the body.
Fisher habits
Active and speedy tree climbers, fishers den in hollow trees and logs.
The animals typically avoid contact with humans.
They enjoy dense forests with extensive overhead canopy and avoid open areas.
Fishers have a delayed implantation gestation process, so likely most of the female fishers released into the park were fertilized and were expected to be pregnant within a few months of release.
“We haven’t yet been able to confirm if any of them have had kits yet,” Maynes said.
“But the females settled down fairly quickly, so we are hoping that they had found a den and that some kits were born.”
Once implantation takes place, there is about a 30-day gestation period and a litter of fishers is usually born during the spring or early summer.
Fishers were listed as a state endangered species in 1998 by the state Fish and Wildlife Commission.
They were designated as a candidate for federal listing in 2004 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act.
The animals probably became extinct in the park because of overtrapping, Maynes said.
Two partner groups, Conservation Northwest and the Washington’s National Park Fund, both pledged money for the release project, which is expected to cost about $200,000 per year.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
