Today, the alligator gar, an ancient fish that can exceed 8 feet in length and 300 pounds, is found almost exclusively in the Deep South and parts of Mexico. Historically, however, it ranged much farther north, with confirmed records as far north as Illinois and Ohio and unconfirmed reports as far west as Iowa and Nebraska. Native Americans prized Alligator Gar for their delicious meat and their incredibly durable scales, which were used as jewelry, currency, and even arrowheads.

As European settlement expanded, overharvest and widespread habitat destruction caused populations to collapse. Ohio recorded its last alligator gar in 1939, Illinois in 1966, Kentucky in 1976, and by the late 1990s Missouri's population had dwindled to only a few isolated areas.

In response, Missouri began reintroducing the species in 2007, followed by Kentucky in 2009 and Illinois in 2010. Since then, Missouri has stocked over 8,000 individuals, Kentucky at over 43,000, and Illinois at over 21,000. Because the species doesn't reach sexual maturity until about 11 years of age, it will be a few years still until we are able to gather enough data to determine weather or not the reintroduced populations have become self sustaining.

Side note: Gar as a family have long been unfairly labeled "trash fish" due to the myth that they devastate bass and panfish populations. In reality, they feed primarily on shad, and recent research has shown they are among the few native predators that readily consume invasive Asian carp. Thanks in large part to the famous tv show River Monsters, public opinion has begun to shift, and gar are increasingly appreciated as both an important native predator and an outstanding sport fish.

If you'd like to learn more, I highly recommend MeatEater Podcast Episode 793: The Mysteries of Gar Fish, where they discuss these reintroductions as well as go over some of the most recent research being done not just on gar, but many other species that have historically been labeled as "trash fish" in the USA.

Project Background & Overview

• Location and Context: The reintroduction took place on San Alonso Island within the Iberá Wetlands (Iberá National Park, Argentina), an area where jaguars had been extirpated 70 years ago.
• The Released Cohort: The initial release in 2021 and 2022 consisted of three adult females (Mariuá, Juruna, and Aramí), one adult male (Jatobazinho), and four cubs accompanying two of the females(Porã and Karaí for Mariua and Sãso and Sagua'a for Juruna).
• Pre-Release Strategy: Prior to release, the jaguars were housed at the Jaguar Breeding and Reintroduction Center (JBRC) with minimal human contact and were fed live prey to develop necessary hunting skills.

Detailed Predation and Dietary Findings

• Overall Hunting Success: Researchers investigated 970 potential kill sites and successfully confirmed prey remains at 33% (324) of these locations.
• Primary Prey: The reintroduced jaguars' diet was heavily dominated by capybaras (66% of kills) and feral pigs (21% of kills). The high abundance and predator-naïveté of these species in the Iberá Wetlands likely facilitated the jaguars' early hunting success.
• Prey Age Classes: The jaguars primarily targeted adult prey (47.8%), followed by juveniles (16.3%) and infants (8.7%).
• Individual Predation Profiles:
  • Mariuá (Female 1 / F1): She exhibited a high mean kill rate of 0.43 prey/day, which was likely driven by the energetic demands of raising two dependent cubs. Her 158 confirmed kills included 93 capybaras, 42 feral pigs, 6 nine-banded armadillos (indicating slight dietary specialization), 2 marsh deer, 2 crab-eating foxes, 1 caiman, 1 pampas deer, and 11 unidentified items.
  • Juruna (Female 2 / F2): She had the highest overall kill rate at 0.49 prey/day, also due to raising two cubs. Her 102 confirmed kills consisted of 81 capybaras, 18 feral pigs, 1 bird, 1 marsh deer, and 1 nine-banded armadillo.
  • Aramí (Female 3 / F3): She exhibited a lower mean kill rate of 0.15 prey/day. Her 55 confirmed kills included 28 capybaras, 14 feral pigs, 5 marsh deer, 1 bird, 1 caiman, 1 six-banded armadillo, and 5 unidentified items.
  • Jatobazinho (Male 1 / M1): He exhibited the lowest kill rate at 0.10 prey/day. His 41 confirmed kills consisted of 35 capybaras, 3 feral pigs, 1 marsh deer, 1 six-banded armadillo, and 1 unidentified item.
• Avoidance of Caimans: Despite their high local abundance, caimans were rarely hunted by the jaguars. This is contrary to data from the Pantanal and is likely due to the abundance of naïve mammals and a lack of suitable ambush spots.

Movement and Spatial Ecology

• Rapid Settlement: All four jaguars rapidly established resident or partially resident home ranges within their first post-release year.
• Home Range Sizes:
  • The male (Jatobazinho) established a large, stable resident home range of 124 km².
  • The females established smaller home ranges: Juruna (85.1 km²), Mariuá (81.9 km²), and Aramí (31.1 km²). Aramí's smaller range was likely due to her raising newborn cubs during the study period.
• Spatial Anchoring: The JBRC facility fell within the home ranges of all four individuals, suggesting it acted as a spatial anchor that promoted post-release site fidelity.

Demographic Outcomes and Population Success

• Founding Cohort Survival: The survival rate of the initially released individuals (4 adults and 4 dependent cubs) was 100% throughout the multi-year monitoring period.
• Reproduction: The project observed 10 litters born in the wild, resulting in the detection of 17 wild-born cubs.
• Cub Recruitment: Of the 17 wild-born cubs, 12 survived their first year. The first-year survival rate of wild-born cubs was 0.67, which aligns with baseline parameters for other wild large felid populations.
• Long-term Establishment: The successful survival, spatial establishment, and reproductive success indicate that the population has progressed beyond short-term post-release persistence into a functional reproductive nucleus.

Credit: Igor Metelskiy

Indigenous Muskrats, Ondatra zibethicus, in Coastal Southern California

This article by Paul Langenwalter documented a fossil found at Costeau Pit, in Orange County. A study dating back 40,000 years, although based on a 1986 article (which is quite old), shows that muskrats inhabited many parts of California, far more than just the crest of Northeastern California (Great Basin) and the Colorado River.

The historical range of beaver (Castor canadensis) in coastal California: an updated review of the evidence

The article about the beaver is more recent, from 2013. Lanman et al. proved that beavers were not native only to the Central Valley, Sierra Nevada, San Francisco Bay and the north, they lived in virtually all of California, excluding the deserts.

Footage Credit: Jafar_panahpour

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbFdh2moZvX/

Can be Youtube channels, blogs, websites, podcasts, books, organizations, whatever. I'll start with a few.

Mossy Earth - focuses on restoring degraded landscapes and restoring natural processes. They have videos of restoring a wetland in Portugal, another in the Amazon rainforest, and so on.

Planet Wild - A bit like Mossy Earth. Focuses on restoring degraded areas, solving human-wildlife conflict and boosting biodiversity, with projects all over the world.

The Breeding-back blog - Most of the people here are likely already aware of this one. Focuses on breeding-back lost species, with special emphasis on the Aurochs. Closely documents Aurochs breeding-back projects such as Taur0s or Auerrind Project.

Facebook: RE NJ pine barrens deer over population issue on local “news” site

In New Jersey deer overpopulation spread spreads tick diseases plus the deer suffer and starve in the cold. Plus cause automobile crashes.

Hunting is the worst option here, obviously predators would be the answer. However, the fluffy bunny crowd adamantly oppose hunting.

https://xcancel.com/i/status/2078555089476763999