Wild Turkeys - Dindons sauvages
A trio of poults, or juvenile Wild Turkeys, scampers along a remote section of trail in the Britannia Conservation Area.
Wild Turkeys were nearly eliminated from the Ontario landscape until a ‘trap and transfer’ program began here in 1984. The goal was to restore the bird to its traditional habitats, and then to regulate hunting to prevent the kind of impact on the population that had occurred previously.
The program was a huge success. So much so that Wild Turkeys are now (a) in places they were not expected to be, and had never been before; and (b) they are in places where hunting is not permitted, like Britannia. And there is the paradox: a bird reintroduced to restore or improve biodiversity enters a small and protected ecosystem. And the impact, created by a ground-hunting omnivore, can be damaging. Snakes, amphibians, and other species are natural targets.
As the Turkeys reproduce without any real natural predator and without being hunted, their increasing need for food will certainly have an impact on the biodiversity that pre-existed their arrival. That was something people spoke about on Pelee Island, where Turkeys were also reintroduced and hunting was even permitted.
Not claiming to have answers, but wanting to note the unanticipated ways reintroduced species can affect local ecosystems.
Wild Turkeys - Dindons sauvages
A trio of poults, or juvenile Wild Turkeys, scampers along a remote section of trail in the Britannia Conservation Area.
Wild Turkeys were nearly eliminated from the Ontario landscape until a ‘trap and transfer’ program began here in 1984. The goal was to restore the bird to its traditional habitats, and then to regulate hunting to prevent the kind of impact on the population that had occurred previously.
The program was a huge success. So much so that Wild Turkeys are now (a) in places they were not expected to be, and had never been before; and (b) they are in places where hunting is not permitted, like Britannia. And there is the paradox: a bird reintroduced to restore or improve biodiversity enters a small and protected ecosystem. And the impact, created by a ground-hunting omnivore, can be damaging. Snakes, amphibians, and other species are natural targets.
As the Turkeys reproduce without any real natural predator and without being hunted, their increasing need for food will certainly have an impact on the biodiversity that pre-existed their arrival. That was something people spoke about on Pelee Island, where Turkeys were also reintroduced and hunting was even permitted.
Not claiming to have answers, but wanting to note the unanticipated ways reintroduced species can affect local ecosystems.