Kentucky
NBCI states utilize a variety of imaginative tactics to reach the public when it comes to raising the visibility of bobwhite quail, the challenges they face and what the answers are. There are print and online reports, newsletters, Facebook pages, vehicle license plates, workshops, web pages, DVDs and classroom programs…Has Kentucky “raised the ante?”
Some 70,000 people a year will now be seeing and learning about bobwhite quail—many for the first time—in a new exhibit at the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources’ Salato Wildlife Education Center at the department’s 262-acre headquarters complex in Frankfort. The education center itself is unusual among NBCI states, and the focus on bobwhites in an interactive exhibit featuring live quail is unique. “We had been pushing for some time for a quailrelated exhibit in this native grass prairie portion of the center,” said Small Game Biologist Ben Robinson, who along with Small Game Coordinator John Morgan, has worked hard to help elevate the visibility of the plight of bobwhites and their habitat in Kentucky. On a broader scale, the state is trying to inform
20 • NBCI’s Bobwhite Almanac
Brings Bobwhites To the Public
Kentucky citizens about the loss of 99% of its “bluegrass prairie” habitat and the impact it has on wildlife. And as an “indicator” species for habitat and ecosystem loss, the bobwhite quail is a perfect “spokesman” in Kentucky, as well as a multitude of other states since the eastern grasslands ecosystem carries the designation of the most threatened ecosystem in North America. A central focal point is a 30’ x 30’ walk-thru quail aviary that provides visitors a chance to see and hear bobwhites, something many, if not most, have never experienced. Like the grounds around the exhibit, the aviary interior is planted in native vegetation, providing the most natural habitat possible. The exhibit’s “storyline” is that of a last-hatched quail chick in search of its siblings and mother. The chick is confronted with a series of choices along the journey (a 192-foot-long visitor trail) that highlight the differences and dangers of a typical fescue monoculture that does nothing for wildlife versus a native grass prairie habitat that benefits bobwhites and a host of other species. Interactive exhibits, particularly popular with kids, highlight such issues as the difficulty bobwhites would have navigating fescue-covered ground versus ground covered in native grasses that grow in clumps, and the availability of