Join The King Ranch^® Institute for Ranch Management as they host the 21^st Annual Holt Cat^® Symposium on Excellence in Ranch Management, celebrating over two decades of sustaining our ranching heritage through education, innovation, and outreach.

This article documents an observation of pyric-carnivory, where a Crested Caracara preyed on a Texas Tortoise following a prescribed fire in southern Texas, illustrating how fire can temporarily increase prey vulnerability by removing protective cover. The incident highlights the complex relationship between fire management, predator-prey dynamics, and species conservation, emphasizing the need for further research on the short-term and long-term ecological impacts of prescribed fires on species like the Texas Tortoise.

Western U.S. rangelands are home to six quail species, inhabiting diverse ecosystems from grasslands to mountain woodlands. These ecologically significant gamebirds, known for their weather-dependent populations, are of great interest to researchers and conservationists, with some species showing concerning population declines according to recent surveys.

In this issue you can read about the history of water systems in South Texas, a 2024 weather report, how we work together with Texas Brigades, and our bobwhite quail harvest research.