Wild About Arizona

It is springtime in Arizona and it's great to go out and experience the outdoors as the days warm up, well, snakes, lizards and other reptiles are getting out in the warm temperatures as well!

Host Michael Colaianni talks with Tom Jones, our Amphibians and Reptiles Program Manager about rattlesnakes and other critters you might encounter out on the trails.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department Outdoor Expo is the largest event that the department puts on each spring on the grounds of the Ben Avery Shooting Facility.

The event gave host Michael Colaianni a chance to talk with Officer Micah White about off-roading and OHV riding safety, but first he talks about tortoises and our Desert Tortoise Adoption Program with Tegan Wolf.

All animals move across the landscape to varying extents in order to acquire the resources necessary for survival: food, water, protective cover, and mates and can roam over vast expanses that can encompass thousands of acres. Barriers such as roads, urban areas, and railroads can affect each of these movement patterns and may pose a threat to the long-term persistence of wildlife populations

Maintaining a natural network of connected landscapes also benefits our human population, perhaps most obviously through increased public safety. Creating wildlife-friendly over- and underpasses can greatly reduce the likelihood of collisions.

On this episode, we get an update from Jeff Gagnon on new projects in the works with AZGFD and partner organizations.

They're Back! Host Ben Avechuco welcomes Jeff Meyers and Cheyenne Towne back to the program. Find out about wildlife viewing events you can enjoy all year long. Starting with winter, we step through the seasons and talk about the wildlife you can see in Arizona throughout 2024.

Host Andy Clark talk trout and so much more with Chase Newlon, the fishing recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) coordinator at the Arizona Game and Fish Department and Alec Young, the R3 coordinator Arizona game and Fish and Trout Unlimited. This podcast features a fall fishing forecast for 2023!

The Sonoran desert is home to hundreds of species of butterflies and boasts some of the best butterfly watching in the country along with fascinating migration patterns that create a butterfly highway through the state. On this episode of Wild About Arizona we sit down and spread our wings with Cheri Boucher of the Arizona Game and Fish Department to learn about the importance of the Monarch Butterfly and how special it is.

Taluissnails, Mountainsnails, Woodlandsnails and Ambersnails are just a few of the over 200 native species of mollusks found across Arizona. On this episode, Jeff Sorensen, the Invertebrate Wildlife Program Manager for the Arizona Game and Fish Department helps us get to know more about our slimy neighbors.

The largest hands-on outdoor expo in Arizona is set for March 25-26, at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix. March 25-26, Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.Admission and parking are free! On this episode of Wild About Arizona we sit down with Scott Lavin from the Arizona Game and Fish Department to talk about everything from wildlife exhibits and family fishing tanks and trying out firearms in a safe, controlled environment on the range at the expo.

In Arizona there's a new and modern way to tag your animal when hunting, all done from your smartphone. On this episode of Wild About Arizona we sit down with Luke Thompson, Habitat, Evaluation and Lands Branch Chief to talk about electronic tagging and the new Arizona e-tag mobile app.

The bald eagle in Arizona has experienced significant population increases since the species was listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1978, when only 11 breeding pairs had been identified within the state. Today there are more than 90 known breeding territories in Arizona.

On this episode of Wild About Arizona we sit down with Arizona Game and Fish Department Raptor Management Coordinator, Tuk Jacobson to discuss bald eagles and where you could catch a glimpse of one.