Treating Northern Bobwhite for Parasitic Infection Supports Sustainable, Huntable Populations

Texas Tech University Wildlife Toxicology Lab article lays out QuailGuard®’s success story for the species and land owners.

LUBBOCK, TX, UNITED STATES, February 17, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- QuailGuard^®, the FDA-Approved medicated feed developed by Dr. Ronald Kendall at Texas Tech University’s Wildlife Toxicology Lab in May of 2024 has been tested for many years across ranches and private land in Texas and Oklahoma. Multiple studies prove QuailGuard-medicated bobwhite populations increase and sustain huntable populations over those that have not been treated, and the article, “Treating Northern Bobwhite for Parasitic Infection Supports Sustainable, Huntable Populations,” written by Texas Tech Graduate Research Assistant Hannah N. Suber, proves how well.

The decline of the Northern bobwhite has been one of the most significant losses the hunting community has faced in the 21st century throughout the United States, and specifically Texas and Oklahoma. Due to their near absence, economic loss is felt since hunting guides are no longer able to bring in an annual influx of traveling hunters. Millions of dollars of revenue are generated each year in Texas alone from hunters in the form of hunting licenses, equipment, lodging, and more.

Ecosystems have been impacted by the bobwhite decrease as well. Bobwhite quail are an umbrella species, which means managing habitat for these birds provides suitable habitat for many other wildlife species. When bobwhite populations are not seen as sustainable, landowners are less likely to sacrifice the time, money, and energy to manage habitat for these birds, leading to a subsequent loss of habitat on which other species rely.

In addition to the decline, the bobwhite populations follow a “boom and bust” pattern where the species would rapidly increase for one to two years before rapidly decreasing, especially in the Rolling Plains of Texas. This ecological region, about the size of the state of Michigan, is not generally associated with many factors thought by many to contribute to bobwhite decline elsewhere, like pesticides, fire ants, and intense agriculture. The rangeland, as seen in much of the Rolling Plains of Texas, can also provide a pristine bobwhite habitat. The fact that quail population crashes also occur in this ecoregion cannot be ignored.

Suber’s article shows that hope is on the horizon for the return of the once-great bobwhite populations. Through more than a decade of immense work conducted by Dr. Kendall and the team at the Wildlife Toxicology Lab, some ranches utilizing QuailGuard medicated feed are experiencing a near-unbelievable resurgence of bobwhite numbers, and hunters will come back.

“Everyone has an opinion, and they are fully entitled to that opinion. However, we have evidence and proof of the effectiveness of the medicated feed. On the Snipes Ranch, the eyeworm infection rate has fallen from 100% in 2017 to less than 10% today. We have lots of birds, and they are very healthy. In fact, we have harvested birds over 200 grams. Here in the Rolling Plains, we have happy hunters and happy landowners,” says the owner of Snipes Ranch.

The development of QuailGuard largely came from the support of sportsmen through Park Cities Quail Coalition and the Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation.

To hear more from ranch owners and the success they’ve experienced with QuailGuard, visit https://bit.ly/ttuwtlhannah. To learn more about QuailGuard^®, visit quailguard.com.

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About QuailGuard^®
Dr. Ronald Kendall, Ph.D. of the Wildlife Toxicology Lab at Texas Tech University, developed QuailGuard^®, the first medicated feed for treatment of parasitic infection in wild quail in North America, and is the first FDA-approved medicated feed treatment for wildlife in their natural habitat that is commercially available.

Laurie Fontenot
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