Wildlife
Key Cave is a critical habitat for the endangered Alabama cavefish (Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni). Only nine specimens are known to exist. The refuge also provides protection for approximately 40,000 endangered Gray Bats (Myotis grisescens). The cave is also home to two species of endangered crayfish: Phantom cave crayfish (Procambarus pecki) and Cambarus jonesi.
Key Cave NWR also manages several bird species including Grasshopper Sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum), Dickcissels (Spiza americana), Northern Harriers (Circus cyaneus), Short-eared Owls (Asio flammeus), Loggerhead Shrikes (Lanius ludovicianus), and Northern Bobwhites (Colinus virginianus).
Read more about this topic: Key Cave National Wildlife Refuge
Famous quotes containing the word wildlife:
“Russian forests crash down under the axe, billions of trees are dying, the habitations of animals and birds are layed waste, rivers grow shallow and dry up, marvelous landscapes are disappearing forever.... Man is endowed with creativity in order to multiply that which has been given him; he has not created, but destroyed. There are fewer and fewer forests, rivers are drying up, wildlife has become extinct, the climate is ruined, and the earth is becoming ever poorer and uglier.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)