Barrow’s goldeneye and common loon used to breed in NE California, the last known Barrow’s goldeneye reproduction was, as far as i know, in the late 1980s. Would be nice to get those two back.
It was no other than Kit Carson who when traveling w Fremont stated that beaver would not be found in waters flowing east from the Sierra Nevada. We do have beavers now in such eastern flowing streams as the Susan River, which, if Carson’s observation was accurate, may reflect the introductions the state made in the early 1940s. We have lost some aspen stands along the Susan River. You can find remnant, beaver-felled aspen stumps in those areas, and after beavers felled the mature stems, subsequent aspen sprouts were likely overbrowsed by the high deer population in the 1950s and/or by cows.
The irony is, keeping native snakes is more likely to be illegal than keeping invasive ones.
Even better: if it was possible to reconstruct the nominate subspecies, Tympanuchus cupido cupido. Known as the heath hen, and endemic to Martha’s Vineyard – far from the range of any other subspecies.
If we are discussing places other than where we ourselves live, I nominate the Franklin Tree: Extinct in the Wild, but iNaturalist currently has 16 observations of cultivated specimens. It was endemic to a small area on the Altamaha River in Georgia. It fascinates me because its flowers look a lot like magnolia, but bloom in fall, not spring or summer – flowers and changing fall foliage at the same time!
Red Wolves. I live in Louisiana and I really wish we had that type of animal here again.
Same answer here. A little lobarion would be nice to have, 4 species of Lobaria s.lat are recorded from Denmark, all but one now extinct, and a similar story for many other old-growth forest species.
I guess all I can do is hope that increased focus on reducing air pollution and nature conservation will mean that some time in the next 200 years or so a spore or soredium will miraculously fly down here from Norway and reestablish itself.
I really wish Leopards could be reintroduced to the Cape Peninsula here in South Africa
They are slowly but (un)surely starting to repopulate in the central and eastern reaches of the Cape Folded Belt, but many are still being lost to trapping and poisoning
Their presence in the Peninsula would do wonders to stimmy Human-Wildlife Conflict between Baboons and Humans, although in the same vein they could potentially become a problem themselves (thanks in no small part to human folly) and start targeting pets
Alas
Certain cities in India have large populations of urban Leopards, they seem to coexist well with humans.
It’s interesting to me that most of the suggestions involve animals rather than plants. People have been “re-introducing” plants to new territories for eons. I guess they’re easier to move. Maybe it’s not so obvious as finding a mammoth in your back yard!
My question is, if there is a plant that is verifiably native and adapted to a commonly-encountered habitat, but is only found in a very few locations, is it a good idea or “scientifically defensible” to plant it in more places? I am thinking of a native wildflower that has been found (so far) in only three places in the US Southeast. If you have healthy, transplantable individuals of that plant, why not plant them in suitable habitat?
Ipomopsis sancti-spiritus is an extremely localized flowering plant in the US Southwest and is Endangered. My understanding is there have been attempts to plant it in nearby areas to expand the population but those efforts failed.
In the case I am referring to, the transplanted plants bloomed extravagantly in my native garden this summer. If the originals don’t come back (I have no reason to suspect they won’t),surely they produced seeds! The researchers who donated the plants seemed to be reluctant to have them distributed in the area. The only reason I can think of is that they may think there is more than one species involved, and that we would be spreading hybrids.
If there’s no data on it being present in particular place before (within the range), even if habitat is suitable, imo it’s not the best idea, if there is, then inspection needed to find out if habitat is in the state that’d be ok for the plant to live in. In red lists it’s usually written that tries of cultivation failed, so maybe same happens with reintrouction. I think for most plants just getting more suitable habitats, reducing human pressure and eliminating introduced species, woul be more than enough to spread back, so problem is maybe it’s not in those suitable habitats because they’re not that suitable anymore?
I would hesitate to transplant. That is one of the reasons plant poaching is so devastating – the poached (transplanted) plants usually die. I would instead attempt to propagate it.
But perhaps you meant transplantable, nursery-propagated individuals. In that case, it could be worth a try. But as I mentioned with the Franklin Tree, it is Extinct in the Wild, but still exists in cultivation. The cultivated ones are, presumably in a climate and soil conditions where they can survive; yet they are not spreading back to the wild. We do not find little Franklin Tree seedlings coming up and establishing on their own near where the adult trees are being cultivated.
Its not what the Leopards will do that worries me, its the the kind of people living in the Peninsula
In India, there are very broad-based and deeply held religious and cultural beliefs which incline those populations to respect and accommodate the presence of wildlife in the absence of any direct incentive or benefit to society at large (in some cases this relationship may even be called borderline parasitic in the case of Primate species there). These beliefs persist even in the urban and peri-urban environment hence why Leopards can roam relatively unscathed there
In Cape Town, South Africa, the urban population is haphazardly split between those who are entirely apathetic towards the plight of native wildlife around them and may be disenfranchised enough to seriously consider poaching as an income stream, those who abhor the presence of ‘destructive’ animals in the man-made environment, and those who are fully altruistic in their intent to harbor and domineer over wildlife in a wholly unhealthy relationship which is to the detriment of surrounding communities and serves mainly as a proxy through which to boost their social standing. Unfortunately, the clash of these 3 viewpoints will spell certain doom for any Leopards released in this region and until such time that there is a major social restructuring and education drive, Leopards in the Peninsula will remain only as a distant dream
I’m actually busy with a comprehensive report on human-wildlife conflict in Cape Town between people and Chacma Baboons (an age old issue) using advanced GIS analysis. Its nearing completion and would love to share it with everyone here when the time comes!
Well, I’m glad to hear that. I had understood there was problematic tiger poaching (a market) in India. Perhaps things are not as dire as I was given to understand.
The SF Zoo has 2 rescued grizzly bears from Montana. But, I imagine it would be a hard sell to get folks interested in reintroducing them here.
None.
Short cutting a long and complex debate on the distinction, qualities and values of nature vs culture I don’t approve of the idea of reintroductions, even though they may be obviously beneficial for locally threatened species as has been the case, for instance, with the reintroduction of beavers here in Denmark.
That said, are there species I am sad to have seen disappear? Absolutely, all too many in fact.
Are there species I would love to see spontaneously return? Lots and lots of them (basically all the ones we’ve lost). The great majority of these, sadly, will not be able to return, even if we reestablish habitats in which they could thrive, simply because there are no viable populations left within their dispersal range. This doesn’t mean I don’t still keep my fingers crossed for the surprises, though. Within the last decade or so we’ve seen the return of iconic species such as the gray wolf and bluefin tuna. I would never have thought of either of those as candidates to return so I find it hard to know what to hope for. One species does pop up in my head as a potential candidate, though, Spiranthes spiralis
If you think they are beneficial, why are you against reintroductions?
Well… actually putting this into words is quite challenging but I guess it’s a healthy exercise, so, at the risk of over- or understating my case which might not be fully thought through yet, I’ll give it a quick go.
I think they’re sometimes beneficial in some respects.
I think they’re often more a case of zooification of nature. I think this devalues nature, undermines our respect for it and promotes a critically simplified view of natural processes. I acknowledge it is impossible to provide a clear distinction between nature and culture yet I believe it is crucial that we maintain an insistence that there is a significant difference. I believe engineering of nature is a slippery slope towards eliminating this understanding and reintroductions are a step dangerously far down that slope.
This is a complex issue and the above just scratches the surface.
I would love to see a reintroduction of the beautiful Electra Buckmoth to lots of its sage scrub habitat that is now suitable for this species in the Pasadena foothills and surrounding areas. Speaking of Pasadena, I would also like to see a reintroduction of the Southern Steelhead to the Arroyo Seco, also with wild and untrashed rivers. I fear this is not possible, though due to the settlements around the canyon, that could be destroyed due to flooding.
There is an photo/video essay in today’s NYT Science Times about potentially reviving the population of red wolves via genes from an odd canid on Galveston Island, the so-called Ghost Wolves of Galveston Island.
Sorry, right now, I cannot find a way to link the article, but this link to the author may/may not work. https://www.nytimes.com/by/emily-anthes
Yes, that is a very interesting article about Red Wolf and the strange, apparently hybrid canids on Galveston Island, Texas. That one falls under the category of “What species would you like to see reconstituted?”