Group of dedicated volunteers continue to help endangered wildlife
Manoah Tuiasosopo
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – A group of dedicated volunteers from Yuma is steadily working to help wildlife amid the ongoing drought.
We shared how they’re donating their time to help keep our desert habitats alive.
Nearly every day, the volunteer group from Yuma hauls truckloads of water across the desert, bringing relief to wildlife facing increasing threats from extreme dry conditions.
Yosie Hyink, an Officer for the AZ Game & Fish Department, said, “Our region here around Yuma has been in a state of extreme drought. As a result, our wildlife are suffering because habitat conditions are so poor.”
The team refills water catchments for animals like deer, bighorn sheep, and raptors.
Volunteer Cosimo Ingrande shares, “Hauling water and seeing the animals actually go and drink the water, it makes all the effort worthwhile.”
Volunteer Doug Beach says it’s hard work but it’s absolutely necessary.
“We’re definitely making a difference. To survive in the desert for animals whether it’s birds, deer, mice, sheep, or anything, it’s very difficult for them to survive and water is a key component,” Beach shared.
But hauling thousands of gallons of water deep into the desert isn’t a one-person job.
“It just comes down to we need a lot of help down here. It really does. Anyone who loves the outdoors, just come down, we could use the help,” Ingrande explains.
It’s also costly.
Many of the water catchments are located far off-road, and getting to them falls on the department’s budget which isn’t funded by general tax dollars.
If you’d like to help donate water, click here.