“A century after it disappeared from Swedish waters, scientists in June embarked on a 10-year project to reintroduce the Atlantic sturgeon to a cleaned-up river in the west of the country,” reports a science website:
Today, the river is much cleaner and conditions are again right for the sturgeon, which can measure over five meters (16 feet) and weigh more than 600 kilograms (270 pounds), according to the University of Gothenburg….The effects of the reintroduction on the river ecosystem will be closely studied by researchers.
Sturgeons feed off the bottom of the river, which helps oxygenate sediment on the riverbed, therefore benefitting the small creatures that live there. Large sturgeons can also serve as a host fish for other species such as the sea lamprey…
Like salmon, the Atlantic sturgeon—recognizable by its pointed nose and scaleless skin—spends the first few years of its life in freshwater. When it is large enough to tolerate salinity, it migrates to the sea in search of food and then returns to freshwater to spawn. But it can take up to 10 years for the river dweller to reproduce. It will therefore be necessary to gradually reintroduce sturgeons every year for a decade so that they can form a population capable of surviving without human assistance.
The giant pangolin recently returned to one of Africa’s more prosperous and densely populated countries, where it had not been seen since the last Century.
Other animals are also making a comeback. In Spain, the Iberian lynx is no longer an endangered species.
Wild horses recently returned to Kazakhstan after an absence of 200 years. These are genuine wild horses, unlike mustangs, which are domesticated horses that went wild. By contrast, domesticated horses are descended from the wild horses in Kazakhstan, since the grassy plains of northern Kazakhstan were the first place on earth where horses were domesticated.
Last year, a baby beaver was born in London, the first beaver birth there in 400 years. And carnivorous plants were reintroduced to English wetlands.
A dog recently discovered a species of mole long thought to be extinct, De Winton’s golden mole. Crocodiles are flourishing in Australia, where they once verged on extinction.
Florida’s manatees have rebounded to their highest number in years. Sea turtles are proliferating, with sea turtle nests tripling in Florida.
An Asian antelope declared extinct in Bangladesh is making a comeback.
The forests that provide the habitat for many endangered species are also making a comeback in much of the world. The amount of vegetation on the Earth has increased every year for the past 30 years. Most of the world’s forests are growing.
