Getting your player ready...
DENVER—Colorado wildlife officials are trying to combat plague in order to shore up populations of Gunnison’s prairie dog.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said the species is a candidate for federal protection in central and south-central Colorado and north-central New Mexico, but it hasn’t been formally listed as threatened or endangered yet because other species are higher priorities.
The Colorado Division of Wildlife is trying to keep Gunnison’s prairie dog off the list.
Wildlife officials say the largest threat to the species is plague.
Last year they started dusting burrows with insecticide to try to kill fleas that carry the disease. More dusting is planned this year.
