The turkey’s journey from near extinction to Thanksgiving dinner centrepiece
KAMLOOPS — Before Canadians tuck into a plate piled high with potatoes and vegetables this weekend, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) encourages people to give thanks for the heroic recovery story embodied by the centrepiece of Thanksgiving dinner: the turkey.
According to the NCC, turkeys were a rare sight in Canada. It’s estimated that only 30,000 turkey birds remained in North America at the turn of the 20th century.
Fast forward just over 100 years, scientists now believe that there are more than 7 million wild turkeys trotting through forests across the continent. The NCC says people can spot wild turkeys in seven Canadian provinces, from New Brunswick straight through to the B.C. Interior.
Wild turkeys were locally extinct from Ontario because of habitat loss and over-hunting, but reintroduction efforts began in 1984. Now, turkeys are a common sight in the province and are continuing to expand their range.