With the Laramie victory, the Wildlife team has won the title 25 times in 42 attempts since 1966, a batting average of better than 60 percent.
Burnishing this regional dominance, successive HSU teams have won the national competition nine times in 12 appearances, including the past three years in a row, for an exceptional success rate of 75 percent.
The competition is sponsored by The Wildlife Society (TWS), an international non-profit scientific and educational association founded in 1937. TWS works to foster excellence in wildlife stewardship, in particular wildlife conservation in North America.
The newest crop of Quiz Bowl winners includes students Justin Purnell, Ryan Vazquez, Felicia Aragon, Bennett Hardy, Phil Chaon and John Oliver.
Among the questions the HSU team answered were, "In what year were wolves reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park?" A: 1995 "Sea otter populations in the Aleutian islands are believed to be declining because of predation by what marine mammal?" A: Killer whale or orca.
"Everyone in the department is very proud of the students in the Wildlife Conclave class for working together to prepare the team for the competition," says Wildlife lecturer Barbara Clucas. "Naturally we are very excited about this win."