Arizona officials transport 94 prairie dogs to Pima County ranch

PHOENIX — Who let the (prairie) dogs out?

The Arizona Game and Fish Department released 94 black-tailed prairie dogs at the Sands Ranch in Pima County on Friday, according to a press release.

The prairie dogs originally hailed from New Mexico. The move was the first of its kind since 2010 and the first ever done outside of the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area.

(Photo: Arizona Game and Fish Department)

The Arizona Game and Fish Department kicked off the relocation effort in 2008 in an attempt to boost the population of black-tailed prairie dogs in Arizona.

The last time black-tailed prairie dogs were found in Arizona naturally was in the 1960s.

Department biologists spent two weeks at Fort Bliss monitoring and capturing prairie dogs to be used in the relocation effort before transporting them overnight to Pima County.

The dogs will now be housed in a 40-acre site on the range with 25 artificial burrows. They will be fed and given water for two weeks while they are housed in protective cages on the site, allowing them to get accustomed to their new home safely.

The department will be monitoring the prairie dogs regularly for several months, the release said.

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