Wildlife
Three federally-designated endangered species occupy the river valley – the Indiana Bat, Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Leopard Darter. It is also home to a variety of mussels, including several that are somewhat rare.
The Kiamichi River has been studied since at least 1894, when the first scientific fish collection was made at Walnut Creek at Albion, Oklahoma. This collection netted 36 different kinds of fish. Since construction of Sardis and Hugo dams in the 1970s and 1980s the river has suffered in environmental quality. Its mussels decrease significantly below the inflow from Sardis dam, and almost extinguished as a species below the inflow from Hugo dam. Nonetheless 101 species of fish still survive, and in some cases thrive, in the river.
Read more about this topic: Kiamichi River
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