ALBUQUERQUE — The New Mexico Wildlife Federation will present its Wildlife Wednesdays program for April online so people can participate from the comfort and safety of their own homes.
The NMWF is teaming up with Daryl Ratajczak, lead biologist with the Santa Fe National Forest, and his Wildlife for You platform.
Ratajczak will present a talk titled, “The Science of Wildlife: Populations Count,” focusing on how state and federal agencies manage wildlife populations.
The talk will begin at 6 p.m., Wed., April 8. Ratajczak will be online starting at 5:30 p.m. that evening.
Ratajczak encourages people to log in a few minutes before the talk is scheduled to start and if this is your first webinar, it’s best to log in at least 15 minutes early. The audience will log in at this link: https://wildlifeforyou.adobeconnect.com/nmwfoutreach/
The preferred method to view the webinar is via computer but Ratajczak advises people who plan to participate via iPad or iPhone to download the free Adobe Connect app first. High speed internet access improves the experience tremendously.
On entering the meeting room, people you will enter as a “Guest.” People may type written questions. At the end of the presentation, people may provide feedback through email or Facebook.
Ratajczak said he will present a PowerPoint presentation that teaches the audience about how state and federal agencies manage wildlife.
“One of the things that I’ll focus on is how we estimate wildlife populations,” Ratajczak said. “That’s probably the number one question that most people ask, ‘how many bears do we have? How many deer do we have?’“
Ratajczak said the presentation will give people a better understanding of how wildlife biologists make their decisions.
“I think it’s very helpful, especially from the hunter’s standpoint,” Ratajczak said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish or any other state they go hunting in. They’ll have a better understanding of how the state comes up with those population numbers for the humber of deer or turkey or bears, or whatever. And so, they’ll have a better appreciation of how wildlife agencies manage the population. And based on the population is how we get the number of tags that are allowed each year.”
The New Mexico Wildlife Federation appreciates Ratajczak’s help in presenting the online presentation. The federation will resume its monthly Wildlife Wednesdays events at Marble Brewery’s northeast heights location once the current public health emergency has passed.