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SPECIES RECOVERY EFFORTS
Four dams built on the Klamath River between 1918 and 1966 made power, not water storage; in 2024, the last came down, reopening 420 miles of salmon habitatIn a groundbreaking initiative, four dams on the Klamath River spanning California and Oregon have been dismantled after a century of exist...
In the 1920s, Arizona’s State Game Department introduced bullfrogs for food and sport; the predators now eat young northern Mexican gartersnakes and move up to 7 milesArizona introduced American bullfrogs a century ago for sport, which now threatens native gartersnakes. These nonnative frogs disrupt food ...
In the late 1800s, California introduced red foxes for hunting and fur farms; at Seal Beach, they drove light-footed Ridgway's rails down to just 5 pairs in 7 yearsIn the late 1800s, non-native red foxes wreaked havoc on the population of Ridgway's rails, bringing them perilously close to extinction. F...
In 1959, Vermont bought Snake Mountain land but not the timber rights. Seven decades later, the state wants to reunite themVermont's initiative to acquire timber rights will lead to the expansion of the Snake Mountain Wildlife Management Area. By adding 256 acre...
In 1978, Turkey Point workers found 1 crocodile nest when Florida had fewer than 300 left. 48 years later, about 400 live in its canals, turning a nuclear plant into an unlikely crocodile habitatAn unexpected discovery at Turkey Point nuclear plant in 1978 initiated a crocodile recovery. Engineers built canals which created an accid...
In 2003, a businessman bought a 23,000-acre estate to restore it; now it's home to a million trees and red squirrelsBusinessman Paul Lister transformed Scotland's 23,000-acre Alladale estate into a wilderness reserve, planting one million native trees and...
In May 2026, Hawaii wildlife crews found 10 endangered caterpillars on Lānaʻi. Weeks later, they found the same moth on Molokaʻi for the first time since the 1940sHawaii wildlife crews recently discovered Blackburn's Sphinx Moth caterpillars on Lānaʻi. These endangered insects were also found in Halaw...
In 1997, couple started with 11 farms; decades later, their 67,000-acre reserve is home to more than 60 mammal speciesA South African couple’s nearly three-decade conservation effort has transformed 11 former livestock farms into a 67,000-acre wildlife rese...
In 1992, engineers began protecting 55 km of Ottawa River shoreline with local rounded gravel. 19 years later, 80–90% of the banks were covered by indigenous vegetationOttawa River banks were protected using rounded granular material over fifteen years ago. This method halted erosion and created a riparian...
On August 3, 2026, Ethiopia planted 805.3 million seedlings in 12 hours with 26.2 million participants; years later, survival data will reveal whether that extraordinary national effort actually transformed degraded landscapesEthiopia also says that more than 48 billion seedlings have been planted since the Green Legacy Initiative began. These figures demonstrate...
In 1990, Utah officials killed more than 99% of the fish in a 17,000-acre reservoir; years later, it became a top trout fisheryIn 1990, Utah wildlife officials took the bold step of using rotenone to eradicate over ninety-nine percent of the fish biomass in the rese...
In the 1980s, the richest closed-canopy mangroves covered 77,643 sq km globally. 43 years later, they had grown to 88,772 sq km, helping turn decades of mangrove loss into a net global gainMangroves are far more than trees growing along tropical and subtropical shorelines. They form complex coastal ecosystems that provide habi...
A Massachusetts turtle vanished for 10 years after its 2011 release, then returned as an adult to the same wild habitat; 15 years later, two of its captive-raised offspring were released there to continue the storyA Blanding’s turtle vanished into the wild for more than a decade. Ivy was released in Massachusetts in 2011 after being raised at Stone Zo...
A Florida couple bought a 45-acre swamp to save it from development; 15 years later, 275 wood storks were nesting there in a thriving wildlife havenA Florida couple purchased a cypress swamp to protect its wildlife habitat. They actively managed the land, creating a thriving sanctuary f...
The hidden owl war: An invasive owl is conquering ancient forests, putting the threatened northern spotted owl at even greater riskInvasive barred owls are occupying ancient forests vital for northern spotted owls. These aggressive competitors concentrate in the exact h...
In 2001, Denmark turned a 19-km straight river into a 26-km winding one, but decades later researchers found nature was still struggling to rebuild what humans had destroyedDenmark's Skjern River restoration has skillfully reshaped a once-straight channel back into a meandering waterway. This innovative initiat...
In 1958, an American ornithologist found pigs devastating a remote Pacific atoll and the removal of 58 pigs was followed by a seabird increase from 650 to 137,000In 1958, an ornithologist took decisive action by removing feral pigs from Clipperton Island, leading to a remarkable recovery of seabird p...
The parrot on America’s El Yunque quarter once had only about 13 birds left in the wild; biologists bred and released new flocks across Puerto RicoFeatured on the 2012 US quarter, the Puerto Rican parrot symbolizes a triumph over extinction. In the 1990s, a genetic analysis unveiled a ...
In 1981, only 5 black robins remained. Check how scientists used other species to save them from extinctionIn 1981-82, the Chatham Island black robin faced dire straits, with just five birds remaining. To combat this decline, wildlife officials i...
In 2023, New Zealand scientists propagated a species once reduced to just two plants. Now, hundreds are being planted making it one of the country's biggest restoration successesConservationists have successfully revived one of New Zealand's rarest plants. About 250 Craspedia argentea seedlings are now planted at Ma...