It is scary to think that sea otters got close to the brink given their keystone role in the ecosystem. Very glad we still have them around. Great video!
It's interesting to see how quite a few species have been closer to extinction in the past. It feels these simply got lucky contrary to some others such as the passenger pigeon.
Sea otters were still doing badly in the 1980s. But because of that there was a crisis with certain kind of sea urchins eating up the kelp. Underwater kelp forests we're disappearing, and Al sorts of creatures were disappearing with them. All sorts of methods were used to get rid of sea urchins, until people realized that sea urchins we're the answer. That's when the efforts to revive them were intensified.
Those where some close calls indeed. I do think there is a difference between zoo's that "put animal in cages" and those that have an enclosed natural space for the animals. Still size is an issue, but like you said, they also have some functions.
Brilliant to hear some positive stories for a change! Feels like we need to celebrate successes more often to inspire more action and support for wildlife!
Shout out to Pronghorn too. Saved by The Boone and Crockett Club, a hunting Conservation organization, after the US government said they’re extinction was a forgone conclusion.
It pains me every time to realise how many species were brought to extinction or to the brink of it by the greed of people… Dodos :( mammoths :( the cutest ones
There are several plants that nearly went endangered in the wild despite conservation efforts until someone got the bright idea to sell seeds to gardeners and encourage people to grow them in their yards or as houseplants. Kind of like the zoos saving the condors. There are organizations that collect seeds from endangered plants sustainably and grow them in pots and sell them to people or sell their seeds so people don't pick them in the wild, preserving the wild populations and also increasing the overall population of the plant because now it's growing in many places in people's homes and gardens.
I agree that sometime all the nature need is a little protection from human and its activities. The muskox almost got wiped from over hunting but once the hunt ended they managed to bounce back.
The decimation of the bison was intentional. You can find propaganda from the era saying "every bison killed is an Indian killed" or something else disgusting like that
This is true, it was one of the additional motivators unfortunately. Although my understanding is the majority of the slaughter was commercial. - Cheers, Duarte
I think this series is an excellent idea. It's not only inspirational, but perhaps it will also show those who are against rewilding and reintroductions can see that it can work. Everything on earth has a right to exist on its own terms.
Really interesting, and shows things can improve. I find it great that we're open to the nuance around different solutions working in different situations. p.s. Love the new illustrations that we're including as well!
When I was a boy, late 1950s to early 1960s, the Buffalo, Bald Eagle, and Alligator were on the verge of extinction. All have made a comeback. I have even seen Bald Eagle in Southern Missouri.
So true. As a kid I never saw an Eagle or Hawk in south eastern PA, thanks to DDT. In recent years I now see Red Tail Hawks regularly and Bald Eagles a few times a year.
I got to see lots of otters on an Alaska cruise almost 20 years ago. This summer I got to see a Condor at the Grand Canyon and some bison in South Dakota. One was rolling in the dirt like a very big dog. I knew I was lucky to see the condor and the bison but hadn't realized how close we had come to losing otters.
I was scuba diving in Monterey Bay at Monastery Beach in Ca back in the 80's and was greeted by an Otter upon my surfacing. It climbed onto my chest as I swam on my back towards the shore. Yes, I was semi freaked not knowing what it might do. After a few minutes it rolled off and swam near me then disappearing as it had shown up. It's a tricky exit as the surf can be rough. If my buddies weren't with me they wouldn't have believed it. The Aquarium in Monterey is World class and where a portion of a Star Trek movie was filmed. I'm so fortunate to have had the experience.
Yes, it is a tricky subject. I hope this video made it clear that they still play a very important role in conservation even if here at Mossy Earth we do not enjoy going to a zoo. - Cheers, Duarte
Thank you Rakeem! I really hope so too, and so does the team here at Mossy Earth. Its a good way to expand our impact to education, showcase our projects and bring some new people to the rewilding world. - Cheers, Duarte
I agree this series is a great idea. There's evidence that the tazmanian tiger still exists in remote rainforest areas of Australia and some islands north of Australia! Your videos are awesome! Thank you so much and keep up the great work!!!!
So glad I came across your channel. It will be great pleasure to follow your stories..:-) I knew about bison but the other two were a complete surprise! Thank you so much for putting it out there to spread the awareness...:-))Can't wait for more videos.
if you decide to make this a series you might want to talk about the Mauritius kestrel these birds went to a population of around 4 individuals at some point.
The re-introduction of the black bear into the Arkansas Ozarks is considered the most successful re-introduction of a large predator any where in the world. There were once tens of thousands of black bears all over the state of Arkansas, but mostly in the western Ouachita Mountains and the northern Ozark Mountains, which also stretch into southern Missouri. By the 1850s bears were rare in Arkansas, and by the early 20th Century, they had been almost completely wiped out due to over hunting and de-forestation, with only an estimated 50 left in the state. In the 1950s and 60s the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission re-introduced 254 black bears from Canada and Minnesota to the Ozarks and Ouachitas. With strict hunting regulations in place over the last fifty years, the AGFC now estimates that there are around four to five thousand black bears in Arkansas!
@@wouterhofman344 grizzlys have not been reintroduced in the cascades. There’s less the 10 in the region and they know very little about them. They likely came in from Canada
I want to add one thing regarding the Sea Otters. The sea otter number is rebounding very very slowly because they are being hunted by Great white and Orcas, which usually don't happen. Great white and Orca usually prefer hunting seals because when they hunt sea otter, what they get is a mouthful of fur rather than meat. Great white and Orca hunting sea otter is due to seal number declining and overfishing.
The Bison herds were killed off mostly because indigenous people relied so heavy on them, not just the plains indians either, Bison were found west of the Appalachians to the Rockies and in Mexico to the arctic circle. The were food, clothes, housing, blankets, bedding, tools, arts (beads, hair pipes, etc...). The Bison were so important almost every native nation has some creation story that involves the Bison in some part. The culling of the bison took all that away and heavily demoralized native people. It was a tool of genocide both for the bison themselves as well as the native people.
Hard to imagine the sea otter was once endangered. Going to Monterey, we’d see sea otters all the time. In fact, I found the otter to be a symbol of the town
I went on a road trip out west last summer with my family and was lucky enough to have seen both a couple Bison at Yellowstone, and a Condor at the Grand Canyon. They are beautiful creatures and I'm glad that we were able to stop their decline before it was too late.
Here in South Dakota we have entire ranches dedicated to them. Some are raised for meat, which I might add are way better than your run of the mill beef. I'm incredibly grateful that humanity had the wisdom to finally stop slaughtering them en masse.
Keep these types of videos. They are informative and allow people to see what can happen when we abuse nature, and what can happen when we decide to conserve it. We need to LEARN from our history as a species, not ignore or change history!
I’m very glad we saved the buffalo, beautiful North American animal, plus bison beef is quite rich in flavor in the few rare occasions I get to enjoy it
@@MossyEarth Absolutely! I spend a lot of time watching them and volunteering with one of their reintroduction projects. They are absolutely incredible birds. And such a cool story to bring them up from such a low number.
I forgot about the Black footed Ferret. They found them about 60 Miles from where I lived in WY very Exciting at the time. They recently Cloned one, don't understand Why because they were on the way to Recovery, with some Returned to the Wild. Cheers
Please continue with the good news. I'm so tired of bad news all the time. How about doing an episode of the Lord Howe Island stick insect, AKA the "tree lobster?"
I believe Tule elk in California were also down to under ten individuals. They now have a healthy population in the thousands with many small herds in a variety of habitats.
Yes. I don't know the exact number but it was a single rancher in California that kept the last herd safe for decades. They've been slowly reintroducing them to different natural areas. The disgrace in my opinion is the California delta to this day gets no respect or preservation. It is the key natural habitat for tule elk, among many others, but there's virtually no protected or natural space within thousands of miles of waterways.
It seems hard to tell though if a rebound like this saves a species or can save it in the long run. Limited gene variation is a ticking time bomb for many species. Let’s hope they diversify, but that’s a loooong progress.
There was a intentional and systematic effort to eliminate the North American Bison because it was plains Indians primary food source. The whites hoped by eliminating the Bison it would decimate and eliminate the tribes with the fiercest warriors who refused to lie down and let the whites keep taking their lands i.e. Sioux, Cheyenne, Pawnee, Arapaho, Nez Perce.
Oftentimes ecosystems are finely balanced and can be completely derailed by the addition or removal of a single species. Humans have been that invasive species far too many times, but cases like these go to show that species we've threatened can bounce back from the brink if we give them the chance they deserve!
Regarding bison, look up Samuel Walking Coyote whose small herd then was sold to First Nation rancher Michel Pablo, who grew the herd and sold it to the Dominion of Canada. They sold some back to the US to repopulate the herd in Yellowstone.
Something about that should be frankly discussed every single time anyone talks about the bison culls of the 19th century is that they were specifically done to support the ongoing genocide of the indigenous peoples who relied on them. The humans who are indigenous to the americas and who relied on the bison are also a keystone species in this ecosystem. Their relationship with the bison and other animals, the plants, and the rest of this landscape was and is far from harmful. This is not something that was caused by “humans” as a whole. The slaughter and near extinction of the North American Bison was carried out by a specific group of people for specific reasons. Before the US government made the genocide of the indigenous peoples a priority, the European settlers did hunt and eat the bison, but they were only slaughtered by the millions as part of the purposeful extermination of the people who relied on them for food, shelter, clothing, of life. The pictures of thousands of bison skulls piled up as trophies they were trophies of a genocide. Of bison yes, but mostly of people. The slaughter of the bison isn’t an ecological tragedy, it was an act of purposeful biological terrorism. One whose impact is still felt to this day.
What about the loss of gene diversity? Can an entire species really be brought up to life from just 27 individuals? Won't there be issues from the inbreeding and simply from losing many potentially significant genes forever?
There’s some really cool research into the lesser dryas extinction event that killed the mammoth and other large mammals around the world that is showing that humanity probably isn’t what killed them off. I would recommend the podcast with joe rogan and Randall Carlson if your interested.
An interesting addition to share about the recovery of the Sea Otters in BC's coastal waters. Sea Otters love to eat Sea Urchins, so not enough Sea Otters eating Sea Urchins obviously made room for too many Sea Urchins that quickly munched up miles and miles of Coastal Kelp beds (Sea Otter habitat). This ultimately led to the death of a huge percentage of BC's coastal Kelp beds for many decades. Then came the late 80's when the Sushi industry showed up in Southern BC and the sudden demand for Sea Urchin became a viable opportunity for local fishermen. This new industry led to Sea Urchin populations being inadvertently put back into check and set the stage for the return of coastal Kelp beds, which set the stage for the Sea Otters to successfully return along with numerous other sea creatures that depend on them. I feel like we fluked into a Hat Trick on this one! Cheers!
Inspiring and hopeful video, but two important considerations, 1) It's very important to mention that not all human communities/cultures exploited Environment so ruthelessly. Many indigenous groups worldwide has tended to Environment in the way one may care for a family or community member. ie. Conservation may have risen in western culture in the last few decades, but conservation is not new. 2) Although guilt and sadness can motivate us to do good things, I think we can make equal and greater impacts motivated from love and compassion. That goes for any effort, be it social or environmental justice. In fact, guilt and sadness are just reminders that we care for and love something :)
No one is going to mention Bison bison bison being the most original name ever.
😂 Yea... they really got creative with that one... - Cheers, Duarte
reminded me about Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla
"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo"
@@andylindsaytunes Ditto, ditto, ditto!
Said homo sapiens sapiens!
It is scary to think that sea otters got close to the brink given their keystone role in the ecosystem. Very glad we still have them around. Great video!
It's interesting to see how quite a few species have been closer to extinction in the past. It feels these simply got lucky contrary to some others such as the passenger pigeon.
Sea otters were still doing badly in the 1980s. But because of that there was a crisis with certain kind of sea urchins eating up the kelp. Underwater kelp forests we're disappearing, and Al sorts of creatures were disappearing with them. All sorts of methods were used to get rid of sea urchins, until people realized that sea urchins we're the answer. That's when the efforts to revive them were intensified.
They still only inhabit a fraction of their former range and have been stuck from expanding for decades by extreme urbanization.
yes
Those where some close calls indeed.
I do think there is a difference between zoo's that "put animal in cages" and those that have an enclosed natural space for the animals. Still size is an issue, but like you said, they also have some functions.
Exactly! One has to be pragmatic with this stuff :) - Cheers, Duarte
Brilliant to hear some positive stories for a change! Feels like we need to celebrate successes more often to inspire more action and support for wildlife!
Yes, a little bit of positive news never hurts. Matt
Shout out to Pronghorn too. Saved by The Boone and Crockett Club, a hunting Conservation organization, after the US government said they’re extinction was a forgone conclusion.
Thank you for the insight, I'll be sure to research this further. Matt
@@jojogo22 Pronghorn are only in a very small part of Canada. It’s gets too cold.
It pains me every time to realise how many species were brought to extinction or to the brink of it by the greed of people…
Dodos :( mammoths :( the cutest ones
Sadly yes, so many lost for good ...
I wouldn't even say the mammoth was because of greed but the others yeah. but actually with dodos it was mainly the rats
I love this idea of species being saved. We need every bit of joy and hope we can get.
Very informative! Hopefully, Mossy Earth will be part of some future success stories such as these 3. Looking forward to the series! 💪
There are several plants that nearly went endangered in the wild despite conservation efforts until someone got the bright idea to sell seeds to gardeners and encourage people to grow them in their yards or as houseplants. Kind of like the zoos saving the condors. There are organizations that collect seeds from endangered plants sustainably and grow them in pots and sell them to people or sell their seeds so people don't pick them in the wild, preserving the wild populations and also increasing the overall population of the plant because now it's growing in many places in people's homes and gardens.
Thank you so much for what you do. Not just empty enthusiasm, but genuine work for restoring the earth.
Super interesting 👏 The history of bison in both Europe and North America is tragic, but there are reasons to be hopeful!
Thank you Hannah!
I agree that sometime all the nature need is a little protection from human and its activities. The muskox almost got wiped from over hunting but once the hunt ended they managed to bounce back.
They are beautiful animals, I remember seeing a (unfortunately) stuffed one in a museum near my hometown
You can still apply for a very hard to get tag in Alaska
The decimation of the bison was intentional. You can find propaganda from the era saying "every bison killed is an Indian killed" or something else disgusting like that
Yup, bisons were an important food source for native americans, which is why the bisons were hunted.
This is true, it was one of the additional motivators unfortunately. Although my understanding is the majority of the slaughter was commercial. - Cheers, Duarte
so was the other animals mentioned in this, the condors were poisoned and the otters were killed for their fur.
Thank you for an excellent video yet again! Sounds like a great series. Keep them coming; they deserve more views!
Thank you Toost! Really appreciate the feedback. Hopefully the views will come soon :) - Cheers, Duarte
One of my favourite channels. Absolutely do the series. I’ll keep watching and liking your videos
Thank you Callan, I really appreciate you saying that :) We will for sure continue the series!
I think this series is an excellent idea. It's not only inspirational, but perhaps it will also show those who are against rewilding and reintroductions can see that it can work. Everything on earth has a right to exist on its own terms.
I would LOVE more of this as a series
That is music to my ears! Will plan some more :) - Cheers, Duarte
Really interesting, and shows things can improve. I find it great that we're open to the nuance around different solutions working in different situations.
p.s. Love the new illustrations that we're including as well!
Thanks Paul!
When I was a boy, late 1950s to early 1960s, the Buffalo, Bald Eagle, and Alligator were on the verge of extinction. All have made a comeback. I have even seen Bald Eagle in Southern Missouri.
So true. As a kid I never saw an Eagle or Hawk in south eastern PA, thanks to DDT. In recent years I now see Red Tail Hawks regularly and Bald Eagles a few times a year.
I got to see lots of otters on an Alaska cruise almost 20 years ago. This summer I got to see a Condor at the Grand Canyon and some bison in South Dakota. One was rolling in the dirt like a very big dog. I knew I was lucky to see the condor and the bison but hadn't realized how close we had come to losing otters.
You should have added the Whooping Crane. They were down into the tens.
I was scuba diving in Monterey Bay at Monastery Beach in Ca back in the 80's and was greeted by an Otter upon my surfacing. It climbed onto my chest as I swam on my back towards the shore. Yes, I was semi freaked not knowing what it might do. After a few minutes it rolled off and swam near me then disappearing as it had shown up. It's a tricky exit as the surf can be rough. If my buddies weren't with me they wouldn't have believed it. The Aquarium in Monterey is World class and where a portion of a Star Trek movie was filmed. I'm so fortunate to have had the experience.
I feel zoos can definitely be improved upon but I feel they inspire people to care for and be thoughtful of wildlife at a young age
Yes, it is a tricky subject. I hope this video made it clear that they still play a very important role in conservation even if here at Mossy Earth we do not enjoy going to a zoo. - Cheers, Duarte
The series is a great idea! Would be nice to see more stories ☺️
I really hope this channel blows up.
Thank you Rakeem! I really hope so too, and so does the team here at Mossy Earth. Its a good way to expand our impact to education, showcase our projects and bring some new people to the rewilding world. - Cheers, Duarte
@@MossyEarth Are you guys on TikTok?
I agree this series is a great idea. There's evidence that the tazmanian tiger still exists in remote rainforest areas of Australia and some islands north of Australia! Your videos are awesome! Thank you so much and keep up the great work!!!!
So glad I came across your channel. It will be great pleasure to follow your stories..:-) I knew about bison but the other two were a complete surprise! Thank you so much for putting it out there to spread the awareness...:-))Can't wait for more videos.
Thank you my friend! This means a lot to me as I spent HOURS on this video :) - Cheers, Duarte
if you decide to make this a series you might want to talk about the Mauritius kestrel these birds went to a population of around 4 individuals at some point.
This videos are amazing !
I hope it will give mossy earth some visibility for the amazing work you're doing :)
Thank you Jules! That is the goal :)
The re-introduction of the black bear into the Arkansas Ozarks is considered the most successful re-introduction of a large predator any where in the world.
There were once tens of thousands of black bears all over the state of Arkansas, but mostly in the western Ouachita Mountains and the northern Ozark Mountains, which also stretch into southern Missouri. By the 1850s bears were rare in Arkansas, and by the early 20th Century, they had been almost completely wiped out due to over hunting and de-forestation, with only an estimated 50 left in the state. In the 1950s and 60s the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission re-introduced 254 black bears from Canada and Minnesota to the Ozarks and Ouachitas. With strict hunting regulations in place over the last fifty years, the AGFC now estimates that there are around four to five thousand black bears in Arkansas!
This is very interesting, I look forward to looking into it further.
Same story with turkey and deer.
@@MossyEarth gotta thank hunters! They have done a lot to help species reintroductions
The reintroduction of the Grizzly in the Cascades is also a succes.
@@wouterhofman344 grizzlys have not been reintroduced in the cascades. There’s less the 10 in the region and they know very little about them. They likely came in from Canada
Fascinating! I look forward to seeing a video on Bison and their role in rewilding Europe.
That's a rollercoaster
I want to add one thing regarding the Sea Otters. The sea otter number is rebounding very very slowly because they are being hunted by Great white and Orcas, which usually don't happen. Great white and Orca usually prefer hunting seals because when they hunt sea otter, what they get is a mouthful of fur rather than meat. Great white and Orca hunting sea otter is due to seal number declining and overfishing.
They need Kelp forests to hide from big predators.
Some of the condors were released back into the Grand Canyon, where they went extinct 10,000 years ago.
The Bison herds were killed off mostly because indigenous people relied so heavy on them, not just the plains indians either, Bison were found west of the Appalachians to the Rockies and in Mexico to the arctic circle. The were food, clothes, housing, blankets, bedding, tools, arts (beads, hair pipes, etc...). The Bison were so important almost every native nation has some creation story that involves the Bison in some part. The culling of the bison took all that away and heavily demoralized native people. It was a tool of genocide both for the bison themselves as well as the native people.
I love the idea of this series! Can't wait to see more (if you continue it)
That is great to hear Izzy! Thank you for the feedback, we most definitely will continue the series :)
Please please please! Make many more videos of this series! We need to teach other how to preserve the species on risk!
Thanks for the positive words, we plan to make more of these. Matt
I think the series is a good idea. It is very informative and interesting and gives awareness .
Can't believe this video hasn't reach 100k views is well made and interesting
Sure hope it has the potential to go there! Our channel recently grew quite a bit so maybe this will be the moment for it :) - Cheers, Duarte
Thank you for the video. I very much enjoyed the documentary, and have subscribed.
Great video as always
The tule elk is another example from California. It was saved by a single person who kept a large herd of them on his property.
Hard to imagine the sea otter was once endangered. Going to Monterey, we’d see sea otters all the time. In fact, I found the otter to be a symbol of the town
I went on a road trip out west last summer with my family and was lucky enough to have seen both a couple Bison at Yellowstone, and a Condor at the Grand Canyon. They are beautiful creatures and I'm glad that we were able to stop their decline before it was too late.
Here in South Dakota we have entire ranches dedicated to them. Some are raised for meat, which I might add are way better than your run of the mill beef. I'm incredibly grateful that humanity had the wisdom to finally stop slaughtering them en masse.
Oh wow! Thanks for sharing! Matt
They also reintroduced wolves to Yellowstone Park. As a result the ecosystem was restored.
There’s a zoo in Tupelo Mississippi called the Buffalo park where it’s a mostly a herd of bison with zebra and camels and other Bovine
The Thylacine was on mainland Australia too.
In Victoria and South Australia
Very commendable - yep do more of these.
Very interesting topic, keep them coming :)
Keep these types of videos. They are informative and allow people to see what can happen when we abuse nature, and what can happen when we decide to conserve it. We need to LEARN from our history as a species, not ignore or change history!
Excellent video
You should of done the black foot ferret they got down to just 1 colony at one point in time.
Awesome idea!
Great idea !!!
Animals: The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.
I’m very glad we saved the buffalo, beautiful North American animal, plus bison beef is quite rich in flavor in the few rare occasions I get to enjoy it
Well done! I really enjoyed the condor part.
such fascinating and misunderstood birds :) - Cheers, Duarte
@@MossyEarth Absolutely! I spend a lot of time watching them and volunteering with one of their reintroduction projects. They are absolutely incredible birds. And such a cool story to bring them up from such a low number.
its awesome idea guys good luck good wishes
Will you make these videos for other continents (and oceanic life)?
Yes, that's the plan! Matt
Amazing!
I forgot about the Black footed Ferret. They found them about 60 Miles from where I lived in WY very Exciting at the time. They recently Cloned one, don't understand Why because they were on the way to Recovery, with some Returned to the Wild. Cheers
Please continue with the good news. I'm so tired of bad news all the time. How about doing an episode of the Lord Howe Island stick insect, AKA the "tree lobster?"
Great idea
Great idea will make people understand all species true value
I believe Tule elk in California were also down to under ten individuals. They now have a healthy population in the thousands with many small herds in a variety of habitats.
Yes. I don't know the exact number but it was a single rancher in California that kept the last herd safe for decades. They've been slowly reintroducing them to different natural areas.
The disgrace in my opinion is the California delta to this day gets no respect or preservation. It is the key natural habitat for tule elk, among many others, but there's virtually no protected or natural space within thousands of miles of waterways.
Love this.
Very good idea 👍
I think this video is similar to the videos on the simplicissimus channel, and they make great videos.
Thank you Ruben! I just checked out their channel and it looks great :) - Cheers, Duarte
More of these please ❤
It seems hard to tell though if a rebound like this saves a species or can save it in the long run. Limited gene variation is a ticking time bomb for many species. Let’s hope they diversify, but that’s a loooong progress.
I believe that for these 3 species that problem is only getting less sever with time, more diversity as you said :) - Cheers, Duarte
There is also the whooping crane that migrates from the Great Lakes region to the Texas Gulf Coast.
The Calgary Zoo has been raising and releasing Whooping Cranes for many years, contributing to their restoration.
brilliant!!! more please
We will work on the next episode soon!
Good video
I live in Oregon, and the Zoo here does a lot of work for incubating Condors and releasing them back into the wild.
Honestly makes me want to cry hearing about how some species go extinct
Imagine how tasty the Dodo was for it to go extinct.
There was a intentional and systematic effort to eliminate the North American Bison because it was plains Indians primary food source. The whites hoped by eliminating the Bison it would decimate and eliminate the tribes with the fiercest warriors who refused to lie down and let the whites keep taking their lands i.e. Sioux, Cheyenne, Pawnee, Arapaho, Nez Perce.
I saw the thumbnail and hoped Scottie Philip was mentioned. I live in the area where he had his herd at first before he moved east of Pierre SD.
Yeah, the dominant Bulls of the early 90s have been in steady decline. :)
Nice to watch
Oftentimes ecosystems are finely balanced and can be completely derailed by the addition or removal of a single species. Humans have been that invasive species far too many times, but cases like these go to show that species we've threatened can bounce back from the brink if we give them the chance they deserve!
Regarding bison, look up Samuel Walking Coyote whose small herd then was sold to First Nation rancher Michel Pablo, who grew the herd and sold it to the Dominion of Canada. They sold some back to the US to repopulate the herd in Yellowstone.
Yup, series idea is great
thank you! Which continent do you reckon we should cover next? - cheers, Duarte
@@MossyEarth South America or Oceania would be great.
Great! Thank you for the feedback. We will keep those as leading candidates for the next one :)
You also forgot the American Alligator, they were almost extinct in the 30’s but they’re growing fast
The reason the 1800s saw the death of so many bison was because the settlers were hoping to starve the Native Americans.
Something about that should be frankly discussed every single time anyone talks about the bison culls of the 19th century is that they were specifically done to support the ongoing genocide of the indigenous peoples who relied on them.
The humans who are indigenous to the americas and who relied on the bison are also a keystone species in this ecosystem. Their relationship with the bison and other animals, the plants, and the rest of this landscape was and is far from harmful. This is not something that was caused by “humans” as a whole. The slaughter and near extinction of the North American Bison was carried out by a specific group of people for specific reasons.
Before the US government made the genocide of the indigenous peoples a priority, the European settlers did hunt and eat the bison, but they were only slaughtered by the millions as part of the purposeful extermination of the people who relied on them for food, shelter, clothing, of life.
The pictures of thousands of bison skulls piled up as trophies they were trophies of a genocide. Of bison yes, but mostly of people.
The slaughter of the bison isn’t an ecological tragedy, it was an act of purposeful biological terrorism. One whose impact is still felt to this day.
Very interesting
What about the loss of gene diversity? Can an entire species really be brought up to life from just 27 individuals? Won't there be issues from the inbreeding and simply from losing many potentially significant genes forever?
There is definitely something lost yes. This has happened for many of the most endangered species. They become inbred and less resilient.
Some 11000 years ago cheetahs almost went extinct, the genes can be traced back to 7 individuals. They are still considered vulnerable because of it
@@ukkiesc5087 100 years ago the population of the european bison went down to 21 individuals. Wild living bisons were wiped out completely.
The bald eagle was also thought to be extinct but then they came back due to conservation I think.
Also a huge issue with DDT. Most birds suffered a lot from it. - Cheers, Duarte
“Back from the brink captain?”
“Out of the frying pan more like it”
Yes please. More species brought back from extinction.
I have heard that disease from cattle also affected the bison populations.
Yes, like Brucellosis.
There’s some really cool research into the lesser dryas extinction event that killed the mammoth and other large mammals around the world that is showing that humanity probably isn’t what killed them off. I would recommend the podcast with joe rogan and Randall Carlson if your interested.
Thanks for the recommendation, I'll check out the podcast. Matt
Definitely a good idea.
I would like to hear some about India too
Added to the list :)
Absolutely!!😍
An interesting addition to share about the recovery of the Sea Otters in BC's coastal waters. Sea Otters love to eat Sea Urchins, so not enough Sea Otters eating Sea Urchins obviously made room for too many Sea Urchins that quickly munched up miles and miles of Coastal Kelp beds (Sea Otter habitat). This ultimately led to the death of a huge percentage of BC's coastal Kelp beds for many decades. Then came the late 80's when the Sushi industry showed up in Southern BC and the sudden demand for Sea Urchin became a viable opportunity for local fishermen. This new industry led to Sea Urchin populations being inadvertently put back into check and set the stage for the return of coastal Kelp beds, which set the stage for the Sea Otters to successfully return along with numerous other sea creatures that depend on them. I feel like we fluked into a Hat Trick on this one! Cheers!
The picture at 2:09 is so insane to me.
Have you done one about the European Bison?
We have now! Go check it out :)
@@MossyEarth I have now, thank you.
This is a good idea.
Inspiring and hopeful video, but two important considerations,
1) It's very important to mention that not all human communities/cultures exploited Environment so ruthelessly. Many indigenous groups worldwide has tended to Environment in the way one may care for a family or community member. ie. Conservation may have risen in western culture in the last few decades, but conservation is not new.
2) Although guilt and sadness can motivate us to do good things, I think we can make equal and greater impacts motivated from love and compassion. That goes for any effort, be it social or environmental justice. In fact, guilt and sadness are just reminders that we care for and love something :)
Great, you should make a video about tigers or big cats in general.
Thanks for the idea!
cailifornia condors are a species from the megafauna and survived off of coastal whale carcass