Bittern: other species that have made comeback from extinction

There have been several species that have come back from the brink of extinction. Here are some examples.

Dormice and water voles: Two of Britain's best-loved countryside mammals, are recovering from the brink of extinction thanks to conservation programmes to save them. Both animals are well known through popular fiction: the dormouse was immortalised in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Ratty in Wind in the Willows is a water vole. Intensive farming techniques, pollution and climate change had threatened to wipe out both species across much of England.

Bumblebees: The five most threatened bumblebees in England have made an unprecedented comeback in the South East this year thanks to environmental work by farmers. The large garden bumblebee, the shrill carder bee, the red shanked carder bee, the moss carder bee and the brown banded carder bee are all considered under threat. The species have suffered from intensive farming, that means there are less wildflowers and the spread of towns and cities.

Farmland birds: Endangered species of countryside birds are staging a dramatic comeback on farms taking part in a pioneering conservation experiment. Even fast-disappearing species such as yellowhammer and house sparrow are flourishing on the farms involved.

Grizzly bear and Grey Wolf: After being wiped out in the 1930s, the Grey Wolf's population has swelled to more than 5000 across America. The grizzly bear and the wolf could be removed from the US list of endangered species, in a move likely to spark fierce resistance from environmentalists. Previous efforts by the George W Bush administration to remove protections from the two species were defeated by opposition in court from wildlife conservation groups.

Great bustard: A bid to reintroduce the great bustard to the UK has scored another success with four wild chicks hatching in this country so far in 2010. It is the second year that the internationally endangered birds, which have been reared in captivity and released on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, over the past few years, have successfully bred. The large species, whose males can stand over a metre tall (40 inches) and with a wingspan of up to 2.4m (7.75 ft) had disappeared from the UK by 1832 after being hunted to extinction.

Pictures at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/8736663/Bittern-other-species-that-have-made-comeback-from-extinction.html