How trading wild turkeys for other animals became a conservation success story

Turkey Trading: The Unlikely Conservation Success Story Behind America’s Thanksgiving Bird

No one wants a weasel on their Thanksgiving table, but swapping turkeys for other animals was once surprisingly common in North American wildlife conservation efforts. These unusual trades form the backbone of one of the continent’s most remarkable conservation success stories.

From near extinction in the late 1880s when the wild turkey population dwindled to just a few thousand birds, the species has made an extraordinary comeback. Today, approximately 7 million wild turkeys roam across 49 U.S. states, with additional populations thriving in Canada and Mexico, according to the National Wild Turkey Federation.

“Wildlife biologists don’t suffer from a lack of creativity,” explained Patt Dorsey, director of conservation for the National Wild Turkey Federation’s western region. This creativity manifested in a series of wildlife exchanges that resembled international trade agreements, but with animals as the currency.

The exchange rates varied widely across state and international borders. Oklahoma once swapped walleye and prairie chickens to obtain turkeys from Arkansas and Missouri. Colorado traded mountain goats to Idaho in exchange for turkeys. The Canadian province of Ontario received 274 turkeys from six U.S. states – New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Michigan, Missouri and Iowa – and offered moose, river otters, and partridge in return.

West Virginia emerged as a particularly generous turkey supplier. In 1969, the state sent 26 turkeys to New Hampshire in exchange for 25 fishers, members of the weasel family once valued for their pelts. Later trades involved otters and bobwhite quail.

“They were like our currency for all our wildlife that we restored,” said Holly Morris, furbearer and small game project leader at the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. “It’s just a way to help out other agencies. We’re all in the same mission.”

Wild turkeys flourished across North America until the mid-1800s, when their numbers collapsed due to two primary factors: widespread deforestation as settlers cleared land and unregulated hunting that decimated populations. Early restoration efforts in the 1940s and 1950s initially failed when wildlife managers attempted to raise turkeys on farms.

“Turkeys that had been raised in a pen didn’t do very well in the wild,” Dorsey explained. “That’s when we started capturing them out of the wild and moving them around to other places to restore their population, and they really took off.”

New Hampshire’s experience illustrates both the challenges and ultimate success of these programs. When the state received its first flock from West Virginia in 1969, wild turkeys hadn’t been seen in New Hampshire for over a century. Unfortunately, that initial group couldn’t survive the harsh New England winter.

A second attempt in 1975 with turkeys from New York proved more successful. Through careful management that included dozens of relocations within the state over subsequent decades, New Hampshire’s turkey population has rebounded to approximately 40,000 birds.

“Turkeys are incredibly adaptive,” said Dan Ellingwood, a biologist with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. “Winter severity has changed, the landscape has changed, and yet the population really took off.” This growth likely exceeded the expectations of conservation officials at the time of reintroduction.

The ecological importance of wild turkeys extends beyond their status as a traditional Thanksgiving symbol. They play a vital role in healthy ecosystems as both predator and prey, helping to maintain natural balances. They’re also popular game birds that attract hunters, supporting conservation through license fees and equipment taxes.

The broader significance of turkey restoration projects reaches beyond a single species. As Dorsey noted, these efforts often created frameworks and partnerships that helped states revive populations of other native wildlife.

“A lot of good work gets done on the back of the wild turkey,” she said.

This Thanksgiving, as Americans gather around tables featuring the domesticated descendants of these birds, the wild turkey’s remarkable journey from near-extinction to abundance stands as testament to what determined conservation efforts can achieve when states work together, even if it means trading a turkey for a weasel.