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SPRINGFIELD, Colo.—The U.S. Forest Service says the population of the lesser prairie chicken in the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands in southeast Colorado has grown.
Forest Service officials say they counted 39 chickens in Comanche this spring, up from 25 last year. There were 86 in Cimarron, up from 66 last year. Officials say their population had declined in recent years because of prolonged drought and severe winters.
The birds are about the same size as domestic chickens and live in grasslands in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas and Colorado. Biologists estimate there are about 40,000 breeding birds left, with about 300 of those in Colorado.
