After the Frye Fire in southern Arizona in 2017, the already endangered Mount Graham red squirrel population dropped from just over 250 to 35. A year later, the population has almost doubled.
Holly Hicks is the statewide coordinator for non-game mammal activity at the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
“It was a cooperative effort between us, the Phoenix Zoo, the Forest Service, the Coronado National Forest and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service where we did a few did a few different things over this past year," said Hicks. "We did some supplemental feeding and some planting for some new trees.”
Hicks said the squirrels’ biggest threat is habitat loss.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story and headline have been modified to correct the name of Mount Graham.