It’s been 50 years since wild turkeys were reintroduced to NH. How are they doing now?

For roughly 100 years, there were no wild turkeys in New Hampshire. Though they were once native to the state, New Hampshire’s turkeys disappeared because of unregulated hunting and habitat loss in the mid-1800s.

But 50 years ago, wildlife officials reintroduced wild turkeys back to New Hampshire. Now, those birds are thriving statewide.

New Hampshire Fish and Game have been keeping an eye on them ever since. Dan Ellingwood is the agency's Turkey Project Leader. He spoke with NHPR’s All Things Considered host Julia Furukawa about the success of reintroduction and how wild turkeys are faring in New Hampshire now.

Transcript

Why did local and federal wildlife officials decide to reintroduce wild turkeys to New Hampshire?

Turkeys, of course, as you mentioned, were once native to New Hamp