Ecostudies Institute: Turkey Reintroduction

Twenty-nine Wild Turkeys (22 females; 7 males) were captured
under the supervision of the FWCC from locations in southern and
central Florida. Turkeys were released between 3 - 8 January 2000,
several hundred meters south of the LPK campground amphitheater;
ten turkeys were fitted with radio-transmitters. Seven of 10 (70%)
radio-tagged turkeys died within a year after release. Three turkeys were
found in the Hole-in-the-Donut, an area of ENP dominated by the exotic
Brazilian Pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius). The cause of death was
typically unclear, but evidence suggests that predation is a major
factor.

History
The Florida Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo osceola), an
upland species that inhabits the pinelands, cypress swamps,
prairies, and hardwood hammocks in southern Florida, was
extirpated from the Long Pine Key Region of Everglades National
Park (ENP) in the early 1900s. Wild Turkey and six other upland
species disappeared shortly after a dramatic reduction in area of
the Atlantic rock ridge pinelands and extensive logging in the
Long Pine Key Region. As a popular game bird, hunting almost
certainly contributed to the turkey’s disappearance.

Historical records, both written and verbal, suggest that on
several occasions efforts to reintroduce turkeys to the Long

Pine Key region were initiated, but the lack of recordkeeping preclude their evaluation, or even their
certainty. The first reintroduction may have been attempted by private landowners to their in-holdings
sometime during the late 1940s. If it occurred, it was likely unsuccessful because a second
reintroduction was believed to have taken place in the early 1960s. Verbal accounts suggest that over
a two-year period approximately 20 to 30 birds were released and that they ultimately reproduced
because hens with poults were observed. However, this reintroduction appears to have ultimately failed
due to hunting pressure from individuals associated with private farm in-holdings that were still present
in ENP. Evidence for a third reintroduction comes from ENP wildlife observation records, which make
reference to a release of Wild Turkeys in the spring of 1971, around the Pine Island area. The last ENP
record of a Wild Turkey in the on Pine Key area is from the spring of 1975 in the vicinity of Pine Glades
Lake. The closest source population of turkeys exists in Big Cypress National Preserve. Yet, the
distance and lack of contiguous suitable habitat between the two regions has likely precluded
recolonization to ENP.

As expected, turkeys did not appear to breed the first spring after release. However, breeding was
documented in 2001 in at least two locations. Unfortunately, funding to continue monitoring was
discontinued. In 2005, Ecostudies Institute obtained funding to further evaluate the reintroduction
program and determine if additional translocations were needed.

In the fall of 1999, Ecostudies Institute, ENP, the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the National Wild Turkey
Federation joined in a cooperative effort to restore the Wild Turkey
to ENP. Another reintroduction of wild turkeys was considered
because hunting in the area was now prohibited, a natural fire regime
was being restored, and the forests had recovered from logging.