Species restoration refers to the process of restoring a wildlife species population by either supplementing, if numbers are low, or completely reintroducing the animals into an area from where they have disappeared.
The conservation need for the species is usually very large before a restoration project will be considered. Species restoration can be done using a number of different techniques and two of the most widely used are:
Captive Rearing: Raising animals in a controlled and protected environment and then releasing them into the appropriate habitat in the wild. This technique can be used when successful reproduction in the wild is not happening, numbers in the wild are so low that moving animals is not possible, or the animal has high mortality in a particular stage of life (often when they are young) so keeping them protected some amount of time can help with survival.
Trap and Release or Translocation: This technique involves moving individuals of a species from an area where there is a good population into an area that has no or a very low population. This technique may be used when a good source of animals exists in the wild but too far away for natural migration into the target location to occur.
These types of projects are complicated, take a lot of resources and planning, and are only undertaken in rare circumstances. It is illegal to move or release wildlife in Iowa without the proper permits.
Species We've Restored
The Iowa DNR has led the restoration of a number of species in the last 50 years:
Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus)
Trumpeter swan (Cygnus buccinator)
River otter (Lontra canadensis)
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
Greater Prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido)