page_title: Species reintroduction
section_title: North America
hierarchical_section_title: Species reintroduction / Reintroduction programs / North America
caption_attribution_description: A fisher leaps from its holding container and darts off into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, a major step toward restoring the species to an ecosystem in which it has been missing for more than 70 years. NPS Photo by Kevin Bacher
context_page_description: Species reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild, from captivity or other areas where the organism is capable of survival. The goal of species reintroduction is to establish a healthy, genetically diverse, self-sustaining population to an area where it has been extirpated, or to augment an existing population. Species that may be eligible for reintroduction are typically threatened or endangered in the wild. However, reintroduction of a species can also be for pest control. For example, wolves being reintroduced to a wild area to curb an overpopulation of elk or deer. Because reintroduction may involve returning native species to localities where they had been extirpated, some prefer the term "reestablishment".
  Humans have been reintroducing species for food and pest control for thousands of years. However, the practice of reintroducing for conservation is much younger, starting in the 20th century.
context_section_description: American bison to El Carmen Nature Reserve and Janos Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, Banff National Park in Alberta
  American flamingo to Anegada, British Virgin Islands (successful)
  Black-footed ferret in Canada, United States and Mexico
  Blanding's turtle in Canada
  California condor in California and Mexico (ongoing)
  California bighorn sheep in Oregon (successful)
  Fisher in Washington state (ongoing)
  Golden eagle in United States
  Bald eagle to Channel Islands National Park, California
  Grey wolf to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming  (successful), Idaho and Montana
  Musk ox in Alaska (United States) (successful)
  Red wolf in Eastern North Carolina
  Whooping cranes, including migratory population in the Eastern United States and non-migratory population in Louisiana (ongoing)
  Wild turkey in South Carolina
  Sargent's Cherry Palm (successful) in Florida'
  Pediocactus knowltonii in New Mexico
  Cordylanthus maritimus in Western United States
  Missouri river otters in Missouri (successful)
  Desert pupfish to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona
  Elk to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee
  Wood bison in Alaska
caption: A fisher leaps from its holding container and darts off into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
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