Gould's turkeys are being reintroduced in some southern Arizona mountain ranges

At one time, they had vanished from Arizona, but thanks to a multi-partner reintroduction effort, Gould's turkeys, one of only two wild turkey subspecies in our state, are making a comeback.

Twenty-five Gould's turkeys captured in Mexico were released into the wild in the Santa Catalina Mountains on Jan. 12, part of an ongoing collaborative effort between the Arizona Game and Fish Department, National Wild Turkey Federation, U.S. Forest Service and the Mexican government to repopulate these birds where they existed or were thought to exist in Arizona.

Biologists release Gould's turkeys in the Santa Catalina Mountains

"Our goal is to repopulate Gould's turkeys in suitable habitat in southern Arizona, particularly the sky island mountains," says Brian Wakeling, big game supervisor for the Arizona Game and Fish Department, who has worked on the reintroduction program for more than a decade.

The Jan. 12 release was the first done in the Santa Catalinas. Ten of the turkeys were fitted with radio transmitters to allow Game and Fish biologists to monitor the birds to determine movements, survival and reproduction.

Since 2003, the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the National Wild Turkey Federation have transferred 82 Gould's wild turkeys from Mexico to the Chiricahua, Huachuca and Pinaleno mountains of southern Arizona as part of their Go for the Gould's project. Last year, Game and Fish staff and National Wild Turkey Federation volunteers relocated 28 Gould's wild turkeys within the borders of Arizona. Seven of those birds were released with radio telemetry units attached.

Current estimates show Gould's turkeys expanding their population and range.  "A survey we did in the Huachuca Mountains last year observed 321 Gould's turkeys. The highest previous number for that area was 90 in 2004," says Wakeling.

"The Chiricahua, Huachuca and Pinaleno mountains all contain Gould's wild turkey flocks that are surviving and increasing," says Dr. James Earl Kennamer, National Wild Turkey Federation senior vice president for conservation programs. "There was even a report of several turkeys being seen in the Patagonia and Santa Rita Mountains where birds have not been released. Our partnership with the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the ability to work with Mexican officials has increased the U.S. population of Gould's turkeys considerably."

Gould's turkeys are one of Arizona's two native wild turkey subspecies. They are slightly larger than Merriam's turkeys, which are found throughout much of Arizona's high country. Gould's turkeys were once found in riparian corridors and isolated mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona, but their numbers began to decline with the westward expansion of settlers.

Gould's turkeys were an important food source for people who settled and worked in the rugged lands of southeastern Arizona, and by 1920 the birds had disappeared from our state largely due to unregulated hunting and unregulated land use practices. A small population is still found in New Mexico, and a larger population exists in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico.

Starting in the late 1930s, the Arizona Game and Fish Department began a wild turkey restocking program in the southeastern Arizona mountains utilizing the Merriam's subspecies. Over the long-term, Merriam's translocations in this habitat had mixed results, and the program now reintroduces the Gould's subspecies, which seems to be better adapted to the climatic and habitat conditions of the southern Arizona mountain ranges.