In January 2021, Argentina released three jaguars into the Iberá Wetlands, a region where the species had been extinct for 70 years. Scientists gave the project a decade to prove itself. Four years
In January 2021, Argentina released three jaguars into the Iberá Wetlands, a region where the species had been extinct for 70 years. Scientists gave the project a decade to prove itself. Four years later, the population had grown well beyond expectations, with births occurring in the wild for the first time in generations.The wetlands span 13,000 square kilometers in Corrientes Province in northea…
In January 2021, Argentina released three jaguars into the Iberá wetlands, a region where the species had been locally extinct for 70 years. Scientists gave the reintroduction project a decade to
In January 2021, Argentina released three jaguars into the Iberá wetlands, a region where the species had been locally extinct for 70 years. Scientists gave the reintroduction project a decade to prove itself. Four years later, the population had grown beyond expectations, with wild births occurring for the first time in generations.The Iberá wetlands span 13,000 square kilometers in Corrientes Pr…
Thirty years have passed since bison were first reintroduced to the long-grass prairies, an ecosystem that was once thriving but had remained dormant for over a century. Since then, bison numbers
Thirty years have passed since bison were first reintroduced to the long-grass prairies, an ecosystem that was once thriving but had remained dormant for over a century. Since then, bison numbers have grown without any signs of slowing down. Long ago, herds of Europe’s largest land mammal moved by the thousands through ancient forests, shaping meadows, spreading seeds across entire regions, and ca…
Thirty years have passed since European bison were reintroduced to the tall-grass prairies, an ecosystem that had been dormant for over a century. The population has since grown steadily.
Thirty years have passed since European bison were reintroduced to the tall-grass prairies, an ecosystem that had been dormant for over a century. The population has since grown steadily. Historically, herds of Europe’s largest land mammal moved by the thousands through ancient forests, shaping meadows, dispersing seeds, and creating trails that other species learned to follow. Centuries of huntin…
In the summer of 1980, a cargo plane landed on a gravel airstrip in Canada’s Northwest Territories, near the Liard River Valley. On board were 28 wood bison, the largest land animals in the Western
In the summer of 1980, a cargo plane landed on a gravel airstrip in Canada’s Northwest Territories, near the Liard River Valley. On board were 28 wood bison, the largest land animals in the Western Hemisphere. The species had been absent from this part of the country for more than a century. The animals were released onto ground their kind had not occupied since before the late 1800s.The immediate…
Spain released its final 62 lynx into the wild, hoping to rescue a species once on the brink of extinction. The animals vanished from the country decades ago, and these releases marked the last chance to rebuild a wild population from nothing.
By the early 2000s, the scrublands of southern Spain had lost a critical part of their ecological structure. Two viral outbreaks, spread largely through human activity, had nearly eliminated the European rabbit from the Iberian Peninsula. That loss had severe consequences for the region’s wildlife, particularly for the Iberian lynx, a predator that depends almost entirely on rabbits for food.The I…
Nine lynx got one last chance at survival—23 years later, the results stunned everyone. In 2007, the species stood on the brink in the Pyrenees, with barely enough animals left to continue.
In 2009, nine Iberian lynx were released from their transport boxes at dawn in a scrubland valley in Spain’s Córdoba province. The animals were bred in captivity, and the release site had not seen the species in decades. Roughly half of similar captive-bred animals died within their first year in the wild, and with fewer than 100 lynx remaining, mistakes were costly. Spain had already invested mor…
New Footage from Florida’s swamps reveals an aftermath no one expected. Investigators returned to the murky wetlands following a disturbing discovery, hoping for answers.
Wildlife officials in northern Florida have released eastern indigo snakes into a restored natural area, part of a broader effort to address the invasive python population in the state’s southern wetlands. The program recently reached a notable milestone when cameras recorded hatchling snakes born in the wild, the first documented wild reproduction of the species in the region in decades.The easte…
America just released eight-foot river monsters into Asian carp-infested waters, and the results are now in. For years, invasive carp have devastated native ecosystems, outcompeting local fish and wreaking havoc on rivers across the Midwest.
The alligator gar, a native North American fish capable of growing past eight feet in length, was declared completely gone from Illinois waters by 1994. The disappearance followed decades of deliberate killing and habitat loss.In 2010, Illinois joined a multi-state reintroduction effort led by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Since then, thousands of the fish have been released into ri…
In February 1999, Colorado biologists launched the state’s most expensive wildlife gamble, releasing wild Canada lynx into the San Juan Mountains—and within a month, four of the first five released cats were dead. Heated criticism erupted over the doomed start, but the team refused to blame the habitat.
In February 1999, Colorado state biologists began a program to reintroduce Canada lynx into the San Juan Mountains, releasing wild-caught animals from Alaska. In the first month, four of the first five released cats died, drawing heavy criticism and negative media coverage of the effort.Canada lynx had inhabited Colorado’s high-altitude forests for thousands of years. Unregulated fur trapping in t…