NEWS
Dozens of animals rescued from catchment amid AMAFCA cleanout
Neighbors called attention to the wildlife as arroyo workers began to clear catchment
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City of Albuquerque workers relocated dozens of animals from a West Side catchment after a social media campaign by locals halted annual maintenance for a wildlife rescue.
Jeremy Dyer, a spokesperson for the city鈥檚 Environmental Health Department, said its staff along with Open Space Division employees retrieved 鈥渟omewhere between 50 and 60鈥� critters from the La Orilla Outlet Water Quality Structure behind Sagebrush Church along Coors NW.
He said the animals rescued included snapping turtles 鈥� both adults and babies 鈥� pond sliders, a softshell turtle, some bullfrogs and a garter snake. Dyer did not have a full accounting of each species to provide.
He said some animals were relocated to the ponds near Tingley Drive and others went to the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park. Dyer said he was 鈥渘ot aware of鈥� any of the wildlife being injured or killed.
Officials believed the animals had made the trash catch 鈥� which works like a sieve to keep trash out of the Rio Grande and is not meant to retain water 鈥� their home after surrounding areas of the bosque dried up amid a historic drought.
The Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority was cleaning the catchment Tuesday, filling it with dirt to access and then empty it, when people in the area alerted them to numerous animals living among the trash and standing water. Community members reached out to Mayor Tim Keller鈥檚 office and other agencies about the issue 鈥� alleging AMAFCA was going to bury the animals alive 鈥� and the work was halted.
Dozens of volunteers filtered in Tuesday night into Wednesday morning with buckets, sticks and nets to catch turtles, frogs and other wildlife before biologists and staff from the city showed up along with the New Mexico Department of Wildlife to check on a beaver that was living in the area.
AMAFCA drained the water from the catchment as city workers with nets, waders and gloves caught what animals surfaced as the water level dropped. The search continued as AMAFCA moved trash out of the drained sump, with one video online showing a giant turtle being removed from the bucket of an excavator.
The initial social media post on the incident has amassed hundreds of thousands of views, and AMAFCA asked the Albuquerque Police Department to help with crowd control as locals flocked to the site of the cleanup and rescue.
APD spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said AMAFCA asked for help 鈥渨ith individuals who were disrupting and harassing workers.鈥�
鈥淥fficers worked to de-escalate the situation and they extended the yellow tape to keep all parties safe,鈥� he said. No citations were handed out.
AMAFCA previously told the Journal they had no intention of burying the animals alive and, once they were alerted to their presence, called on the city for assistance removing them.
The locals behind the grassroots effort said that, had they not intervened, 鈥渉undreds鈥� of animals would have been killed as AMAFCA workers did not take their concerns to heart until they reached out to Keller鈥檚 office.
AMAFCA Director of Operations and Maintenance Paula Dodge-Kwan said the agency finished cleanout work Friday and will be reinstalling gates Monday. She said a total of 66 animals 鈥渁ll of whom were alive鈥� were removed during the effort and the agency found no injured or dead animals.
Dodge-Kwan, who previously said the agency would drill holes in the concrete to prevent water from gathering again, said Saturday that AMAFCA is 鈥渨orking on an appropriate engineered solution鈥� and had not drilled the holes.
鈥淲e will continue to monitor our facilities and continue coordinating with wildlife experts when we encounter any animals in our facilities,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is the first instance of interface with wildlife, but we now have a template to work from.鈥�
