Wild Turkeys Went from Almost Gone to Millions Strong

"For millions of Americans, Thanksgiving is simply not Thanksgiving without turkey. The bird is native to North America. And yet by the middle of last century, the most likely place to find one was on the dinner table. A combination of deforestation, agricultural expansion and overhunting almost brought America's favorite gobblers to the brink of extinction in the wild. But these days, across the U.S., there are more than six million wild turkeys,"

"up from a low in the 1930s that some observers estimated to be as few as roughly 30,000 birds. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. Here to tell us more about the species conservation success story is Michael Chamberlain, National Wild Turkey Federation Distinguished Professor at the University of Georgia."

"Yeah, so I got an opportunity in graduate school to kind of pick the research project that I was working on, and one of the options was to work with wild turkeys, and I grew up, as a young person, hunting turkeys in the fall. And so I was really interested in them from that standpoint, but then, when I started doing field research involving turkeys, I became really fascinated with their behavior and how they function as a bird, and the rest is historyI've"

Wild turkeys are native to North America and were once common in the wild. Mid-20th-century deforestation, agricultural expansion and overhunting pushed wild turkey numbers to dangerously low levels by the 1930s. Observers estimated the population then at roughly 30,000 birds in the United States. Conservation, management and changing land-use practices supported a dramatic recovery. Current estimates indicate more than six million wild turkeys across the country. A researcher with hunting roots chose wild turkeys for graduate study, conducted field research, and became fascinated by their behavior and ecological function.

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