Ghost Forest– Madison Square Park

Central Park’s New Celebrity Bird– "New Yorkers are so obsessed with Barry the barred owl that some are concerned he could be scared away. So far, he seems to like the attention."

Hundreds of Seals Now Call New York Waters Home:

“‘There’s more and more seals,’ said Paul Sieswerda... [he] estimates there are about 300 seals here, the population growing because of ample food supply, waters that are the cleanest in decades and the Marine Mammals Protection Act, which makes it illegal to come within 100 yards of a seal.”

“The storied New Jersey Pine Barrens... an undulant expanse of verdant forest that remains one of the state’s great treasures. But along numerous sections of the Pine Barrens’ waterways, “ghost forests” are taking hold. Stands of Atlantic white-cedar are dying off, giving way to saltwater marshes and leaving thousands of acres of dead trees in their wake. It’s a natural phenomenon that has happened in the past, but traditionally the dead patches recover over time. Now, however, scientists believe that sea level rise, caused by climate change driven by human activity, has worsened the situation beyond repair.” 

“Wood Thrush are still common throughout the deciduous forests of eastern North America, but populations have declined by almost ... 62% percent. It is on the 2016 State of North America’s Bird’s Watch List, which includes bird species that are most at risk of extinction...The Wood Thrush is one of the most prominent examples of declining forest songbirds in North America. Some of the steepest declines have been in Atlantic Coast and New England states where Wood Thrushes are most common."

“The national symbol of the United States, bald eagles numbered 100,000 in 1782. By 1963, less than 1000 remained and the species was in danger of extinction because of habitat destruction illegal shooting and food contamination from the pesticide DDT. Protection under the Endangered Species Act the banning of DDT and conservation actions taken by the American public helped bald eagles make a remarkable recovery.“

“New York city was essentially built on the back of the beaver, as beavers were plentiful in colonial New York and the fur trade fueled the city’s growth... Just two centuries after European settlers first arrived, the number of beavers in New York state fell from an estimated 60 million to almost none at all. However, efforts in the early 1900s to reintroduce beavers by releasing them in the Adirondacks have been largely successful. By 1924, upstate beaver populations were thriving again. And in 2007 a beaver was spotted in the Bronx river, marking the first beaver sighting in New York city in over 200 years. Beavers are now present on Staten Island as well, and have been spotted in Manhattan and Brooklyn.”

“Making up one-quarter of all mammal species the 1,116 species of bats pollinate flowers eat insects and fertilize plants. In 2007, scientists noticed a mysterious illness destroying bats in the northeastern U.S. Called “white-nose syndrome” ... Though no one knows what causes it white-nose syndrome could result in the death of 95% of bats in the North East.“

“Unregulated commercial hunting and subsistence hunting threatened to eliminate the white-tailed deer from much of its range.  At that time, many state wildlife agencies were formed with the goal of conserving the nation’s depleted wildlife resources.  Hunting regulations were put into place…The rebound of white-tailed deer populations that followed is considered a wildlife management success story.” 

“Placed on the North American bird watchlist- the species has seen a 75% decline in population since 1966 according to the North American breeding survey . The main problem Whip-poor-wills face is the loss of open-understory forests. Because Whip-poor-wills often fly over roads or sit on roadways while foraging, they are also vulnerable to collisions with cars."

“Historically numbering in the millions, the population of prairie chickens has dropped dramatically since the 19th century. The heath hen, which ranged from New Hampshire to Virginia in colonial times was once “so plentiful that it was a staple food... in coastal New England.” Aggressive hunting caused rapid population decline and the last heath hen was sighted on March 11, 1932.”

“The flesh of the bear is savory, but rather luscious, and tastes not unlike pork.  It was once so common an article of food in New-York, as to have given the name of Bear market to one of the principal markets in the city.“

“The Cougar or Painter, is now rarely seen in the southern parts of the State; though the writer remembers, when a boy, the consternation occasioned by the appearance of one of these animals in Westchester county, not more than twenty-five miles from New-York.“

“Of all the early American Observers, only the astute Timothy Dwight seems to have commented on this phenomena. “The object of these conflagrations” he wrote, “was to produce fresh and sweet pasture for the purpose of alluring the deer to the spots on which they had been kindled.” The effect was even subtler than Dwight realized: because the enlarged edge areas actually raised the total herbivorous food supply, they not merely attracted game but helped to create a much larger population of it. Indian burning promoted the increase of exactly those species whose abundance so impressed the English colonists: elk, deer, beaver, hare, porcupine, turkey, quail, ruffed grouse and so on.”

“The Right Whale gets its name from early whalers who considered them to be the “right” whales to hunt. Their slower pace, the fact that they come close to land, their tendency to float after being killed and their “productivity” in terms of oil made them lucrative animals to target.” Whalers hunted 150,000 Southern right whales in the 19th century bringing their population today to less than 10,000. Between 300 and 350 North Atlantic right whales still exist, but despite seven decades of protection efforts, no population growth has been observed."