Nobody wants to see species go extinct, especially very visible species, like the bald eagle. This list represents some of the best species success stories. I’m sure there are other very good stories, but this is just a short list.
Bald Eagle
Most everybody knows the story of the bald eagle, but here it is again for good measure. The species numbers dropped from about 500,000 to about 50 pairs. This is due to the extensive spraying of DDT (a pesticide) in the 1950s, which made the eggshells thinner. DDT was banned in 1972 and the bald eagle started to recover. In 2007, it was removed from the Endangered Species List.
Black-footed Ferret
This species eats the black-tailed prairie dog and actually lives among colonies of the prairie dog. Ranchers have been known to kill of entire colonies of the prairie dog, which leads to a decline in the ferrets. However, the ferret was listed as endangered in 1981 and has now begun to recover. There’s still not that many in the wild, only about 750, but they are stable.
Brown Pelican
I’ve previously written about the removal of the brown pelican from the Endangered Species List, but they do have an incredible success story. They were first hunted for their feathers and then received another blow in the mid-20th century from the use of DDT. They have recovered greatly after being listed and the banning of DDT. They are now quite common along the coast.
California Condor
In 1987, this huge bird was nearly extinct in the wild. Biologists had brought the last few into captivity to try and figure out how to save the species. After getting them to breed in captivity, the condors were released back into the wild starting in 1991. The condor numbers declined due to DDT use, lead poisoning from bullets, and the persecution from ranchers. The condor breeding program is considered the most expensive, but it has been successful with the first wild condor hatched in 2006. By 2009, about 172 are in the wild.
Gray Wolf
Last year, the wolf was delisted after in had recovered from its near hunting to extinction. In 2000, a court ruled that they could return to Yellowstone and by 2009 a few states allowed hunting of the wolves. Conservationists aren’t happy about the hunting and the judge has stated that the delisting may have been premature.
Grizzlies of Yellowstone
Since the 1980s, grizzly bear numbers have nearly tripled in Yellowstone as they have returned to their natural habitat. The bear was delisted in 2007. It has not been all happy, though. The National Wildlife Federation deemed the grizzly recovery as a major success, but not all agree. They were sued by the NRDC and won. In late 2009, the grizzly returned to the list due to the decline in whitebark pine, of which the grizzlies eat the nuts.
Oysters of Chesapeake Bay
In the west, oysters have declined, but in the Chesapeake they have rebounded due to the use of artificial reefs. The oysters originally declined due to overharvesting, but they have been returning through the great use of the artificial reefs.
Panamanian Amphibians
The Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project was founded by biologists who were greatly concerned over the decline of amphibian species in Central America. When a certain fungus, the chytrid fungus Bd, enters an area it kills off about 50% of amphibian species in five months! Therefore, biologists have capture many species to take to captivity in case that species goes extinct in the wild.
Western Lowland Gorillas
In the Republic of Congo, a whole new group of gorillas was discovered in 2008. This new population nearly doubles the already known population numbers. There are about 175,000 to 225,000 gorillas in the wild.
Whale Recoveries
Blue whale numbers, have declined about 99% from their historic numbers due to commercial whaling. After the banning of whaling, the blue whales started to recover. About 1700 can now be found in the Pacific. Northern humpbacks also declined to a record low number, but now are recovering. Since commercial whaling is now gone whales such as the gray whale, fin whale, and bowhead whale are now recovering.
Picture credit to Flickr user gek-ko.
