Established just four years ago by the Global Rewilding Alliance, the day celebrates the herculean effort behind rebuilding ecosystems and reminds us that nature can bounce back.<\/p>\n
Mongabay has reported on rewilding efforts from Southeast Asia to South America and beyond, with teams restoring habitats and releasing captive-bred species back into the wild, giving nonhuman animals space to thrive again.<\/p>\n
In Brazil, the great-billed seed finch (Sporophila maximiliani) has returned to the Cerrado savanna after being locally extinct for more than half a century, contributor James Hall reported.<\/p>\n
At first sight, the critically endangered small brown bird appears rather plain, but its striking singing voice trapped it into the illegal pet trade, with some birds sold for as much as $8,000.<\/p>\n
Since 2018, conservationists have released more than 300 captive finches into a nature reserve in southeastern Brazil. Post-release monitoring has shown they\u2019re adapting well to the wild and have begun to breed and nest.<\/p>\n
On the other side of the world, in the waters of Indonesia\u2019s Raja Ampat archipelago, the striking zebra shark (Stegostoma tigrinum) was considered functionally extinct, with a population of just 20 individuals remaining.<\/p>\n
To recover their numbers there, scientists working at the Shark Reef Aquarium in Las Vegas, U.S., shipped hundreds of shark eggs back to the archipelago, with the hope of having at least 500 individuals swimming free in its waters over the coming years, Mongabay\u2019s Hans Nicholas Jong reported.<\/p>\n
In Argentina\u2019s wetlands, since the reintroduction of the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) to the 758,000-hectare (1.9 million-acre) Iber\u00e1 National Park in 2007, multiple generations of the 2-meter-long (6-foot) mammal are now thriving in their original habitat.<\/p>\n
The success of the rewilding effort has spilled over across the border, with giant anteaters spotted in southern Brazil for the first time in 130 years, contributor Sarah Brown reported in early 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf large mammals are coming from one region and settling in another, it\u2019s because there is a support capacity for them. It\u2019s an indication of the health of the environment,\u201d ecologist F\u00e1bio Mazim told Brown.<\/p>\n
Rewilding isn\u2019t as simple as just releasing animals into the wild. Experts such as Helen Senn, the head of conservation at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, who is part of a project to rewild the Scottish wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris), warns that the process takes years of careful planning, monitoring and scientific research to run smoothly and support the ecosystem while ensuring individuals that were bred in captivity can survive in the wild.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in this for the long haul, and we know that it\u2019s going to take probably years of concerted effort to truly be successful,\u201d she told contributor Sean Mowbray.<\/p>\n
This article<\/a> by Shanna Hanbury was first published by Mongabay.com on 19 March 2025. Lead Image: A giant anteater in the Argentinian wetlands. Image courtesy of Rewilding Argentina.<\/i><\/p>\n Wildlife continues to face threats, which include hunting, poaching, illegal trade in animal products, habitat loss as well as a rapidly changing climate.<\/p>\n Become a Wildlife Champion today by supporting our conservation partners<\/a> with a monthly donation as little as $1.<\/p>\nWhat you can do<\/h2>\n