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John Toepfer
Society Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus (Society of the Greater Prairie Chicken), Ltd.
I
am a field research biologist. This means I spend much of my time outside
studying animals, their habits and habitats. I work with a private organization
called The Society of Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus, Ltd. The organization
is the scientific and Latin name of the Greater prairie chicken and means
"kettle drum of love with cupid's wings." I work on a research project
called Prairie Chicken Grasslands: 2000 and Beyond. The goal of this project
is to increase our knowledge of Greater prairie chickens. We are currently
monitoring the movements and survival of radio-marked birds in Wisconsin,
Minnesota, and North Dakota. One of my main duties is to capture and follow
radio-marked prairie chickens. I also trap and relocate birds from one
area in order to re-establish populations in unoccupied habitat. We have
translocated birds from western Minnesota to North Dakota and southern
Minnesota.
My interest in wildlife started in 7th and 8th grades when I began to collect and mount butterflies and moths. My first encounter with prairie chickens occurred in college when I was asked to volunteer to count the males on their booming grounds in central Wisconsin. The booming grounds are the place where a group of males congregate everyday during the spring to display. The males make a wooing sound similar to that made when one blows across the top of a bottle. The purpose of this display is to attract females for mating.
I received a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Management and a Master of Science in Natural Resource Management at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. I obtained a Doctor of Philosophy or Ph.D. in Wildlife Management at Montana State University in 1989. After I received my Doctorate I worked for the Sioux tribe on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation in North Dakota where I was the Director of Fish and Wildlife. Here I counted the wildlife on the 380 square mile reservation and developed a wildlife management plan for deer, waterfowl, Sharp-tailed grouse and endangered species. I also helped the Tribe write their wildlife code or laws and managed their bison herd.
The most important thing I have learned following and counting animals over the past 25 years is that animals need plants to survive. Animals need plants for food and as cover for protection from the weather and predators. Plants make up most of what we call habitat or the place where an animal lives. Consequently, every wildlife biologist must not only have an understanding of the animals he/she works with, but they also must know the plants they use for food and cover.
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