What do the Lahontan, Greenback, and San Juan River cutthroat trout all have in common? They were all once considered extinct until small populations were discovered and used to reestablish populations in their original home ranges. This is exactly the outcome Colorado Parks and Wildlife is hoping to achieve for the Yellowfin cutthroat trout, a subspecies last documented in Twin Lakes outside of Leadville, Colorado.
According to CPW, “State biologists will spend the next few summers surveying hundreds of wetlands, streams, and ponds in the upper Arkansas River basin searching for the Yellowfin, believed to be the only cutthroat native to the Arkansas River drainage.”
You can learn more about the hunt for the Yellowfin cutthroat in this press release from CPW!