The Mount Graham red squirrel population is slowly coming back two years after nearly being wiped out by a wildfire in 2017.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department said the population grew 4% from last year, from a minimum of 75 squirrels to 78 this year.
This particular subspecies of red squirrel can only be found in the upper elevation conifer forests of the Pinaleño Mountains, the Game and Fish Department said.
The squirrel was thought to have been extinct in the 1950s but was rediscovered decades later. In the late 1990s, the Mount Graham red squirrel population peaked at about 550.
Since then, the subspecies typically ranged between 200 and 300 until the Frye Fire in southeastern Arizona severely damaged much of the squirrel's habitat.
But the squirrels are facing other problems as well after the devastating wildfire. Drought has reduced the number of cones the squirrels can feed on, and they're having to compete with non-native Aber's squirrels for the food, biologists say.
The Game and Fish Department said biologists are exploring new methods to help conserve the Mount Graham red squirrel, such as re-seeing and planting coniferous trees and a managed care breeding program.
