00:00Officials are working to keep a tiny mouse from going extinct in California.
00:07The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, in partnership with several state and federal organizations,
00:13recently reintroduced a group of endangered Pacific pocket mice just outside a U.S. military
00:19base.
00:20Thought to be extinct for two decades before being found in the early 90s, the Wildlife
00:26Alliance started a conservation, breeding, and reintroduction program for the pocket
00:30mice in 2012 to prevent their complete extinction.
00:34Since then, new populations were released into the wild at a wilderness park in 2016,
00:40and the mice began reproducing independently a year later.
00:44According to San Diego Zoo officials, the species once inhabited an extensive range
00:49from Los Angeles to the Tijuana River Valley, but human encroachment and habitat loss since
00:54the early 30s has led to the steep decline in their population.
00:59Federal wildlife officials listed the mouse as endangered in 1994.
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