Sept. 12, 2005 — The impact of Hurricane Katrina on wildlife in the Gulf Coast region is just beginning to be assessed, said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a recent press release.

The area's 16 coastal national wildlife refuges, which together span nearly 365,000 acres, remained closed as of Friday, Sept. 9, as officials surveyed the damage.

Initial assessments indicated that several regions critical to endangered wildlife were hit hard by Katrina's 150 mph winds and nearly 20-foot-high storm surges.

Louisiana's 13,000-acre Breton National Wildlife Refuge, part of the Chandeleur Islands in the Gulf Coast, was hit hardest by the storm, said the release.

The second-oldest national wildlife refuge in the country, Breton is home to several threatened species, including the least tern and piping plover. It is now roughly half its original size, said the release.

The 20,000-acre Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge in Gautier, Miss., also suffered a significant amount of damage from the Category 4 storm.

Prior to Hurricane Katrina, only around 140 Mississippi sandhill cranes remained in the wild. Despite the blow to their habitat, indications are that most of these survived, said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service release.

Of the 38 Mississippi sandhill cranes fitted with radio transmitters, 25 were found alive after the storm, said the release. In addition, a captive flock at the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species in New Orleans remained intact.

Four other national wildlife refuges in the area were hit hard by Hurricane Katrina, said the release. These are Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge in Lacombe, La.; Delta National Wildlife Refuge in Venice, La.; Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge in Pearl River, La.; and Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge in New Orleans, La.

Threatened and endangered species that live in these areas include the brown pelican, bald eagle, red-cockaded woodpecker, American alligator, Arctic peregrine falcon, ringed-sawback turtle, gopher tortoise, inflated heelsplitter mussel, gulf sturgeon, loggerhead sea turtle and swallow-tailed kite.

Common wildlife residing in these areas include many species of seabird and shorebird — such as the laughing gull, long-billed dowitcher and royal tern — numerous fish and shellfish species, swamp rabbits, nutria, raccoons, turkeys, deer, snakes, minks and skunks.

The endangered red-cockaded woodpecker lost a significant portion of its habitat at Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge in Brooksville, Miss., where many mature pine trees were down in the wake of the storm, said the release. The rare woodpecker nests and roosts in the cavities of these older pine trees, which they painstakingly excavate over the span of one to three years.

The rare Alabama beach mouse also lost a large portion of its habitat, said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service release. The state's primary dunes were completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, as well as 90 percent of its secondary dunes — the preferred habitat of the beach mouse.

"It is likely that (the Alabama beach mouse's) population will be substantially reduced from the effects of both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Ivan from last year," said the release. In order to supplement the species' diet, biologists are considering scattering oats and seeds where beach mouse tracks are found along the Alabama coast.

Endangered sea turtles were also affected by Hurricane Katrina, losing about 50 nests along Alabama's coasts — including all 10 in Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge — said the release.

With roughly 23 square miles of coastal wetlands being lost annually along the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina dealt a markedly harsh blow to this fragile habitat, which is vital to so many wildlife species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said they expected "significant coastal wetland impacts," with uprooted plants, defoliated trees and heavy damages to standing trees noted in Mississippi and Louisiana.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and their habitats in the United States.