Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge

Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge

Parks Directory of the United States / National Wildlife Refuges

Address: PO Box 519
Eagle Lake, TX 77434
Phone: 979-234-3021;
Fax: 979-234-3278;
Web: www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/attwater
Established: 1972.
Location: About 60 miles west of Houston, Texas.
Facilities: Visitor center, auto tour route (5 miles), trails, picnic area.
Activities: Hiking, educational programs.
Special Features: Refuge offers the last hope for survival for the endangered Attwater's prairie chicken, which once numbered over a million on the Texas and Louisiana gulf coastal prairies. Today, less than one percent of coastal prairies remain and in 1996, scientists estimated only about four dozen birds remained in the wild. Today a captive breeding program involving Texas A&M University, the Houston Zoo, the San Antonio Zoo, Sea World of Texas, Caldwell Zoo, and the Abilene Zoo is aimed at species repopulation on the prairie.
Habitats: 10,528 acres of native prairie grasses bordered on the east by the San Bernard River.
Access: Open sunrise to sunset.
Wild life: Endangered Attwater's prairie chicken and nearly 250 other species of birds; also bison, raccoons, bobcat, coyote, armadillo, alligator, and snakes.

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