Turkeys Were a Marvel of Conservation. Now Their Numbers Are Dwindling.

IDABEL, Okla. — When researchers started trapping and putting radio trackers on female turkeys in the thick woods of southeast Oklahoma, they hoped to learn how hens were successfully raising their young.

Two years into that study, there is a complication: None of those 60 or so turkeys are known to have hatched offspring that lived more than a few weeks, a microcosm of a much larger problem.

Wild turkeys were a 20th-century conservation triumph. After the birds dwindled or vanished across much of their ancestral range, decades of work helped re-establish healthy populations. As they multiplied, turkeys became a favorite target for hunters and a frequent sight along roadways, spreading beyond the countryside and into suburban yards, city parks and college campuses.

But over the last 10 or 15 years, wild turkeys have fallen into significant decline throughout the South and Midwest. As it became clear that there were sustained losses across many states, turkey enthusiasts grew worried, scientists started studies and some states curbed hunting. Just this year, Kansas and Mississippi suspended fall turkey hunting seasons, and Oklahoma legislators held a hearing on the decline.

“It took a decade or more of this happening in multiple places where everyone was like, ‘Holy crap, what’s going on?’” said Colter Chitwood, a professor at Oklahoma State University who is leading the study into turkey declines in that state.

Wild turkeys remain more common than they were several decades ago. But the speed, scale and breadth of recent declines have raised alarms.

Tallying wild turkeys (which are distinct from the farmed ones that end up on most Thanksgiving plates) is a bit like counting cars in downtown traffic: You can tell the general trend line, but good luck getting an exact number. Researchers estimate that the population has fallen by at least 30% from peak levels in several states, even as turkey numbers appear stable or growing elsewhere, including parts of the West and Northeast.

Turkey declines have touched off a new wave of gobbler research. Across the country — including in Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee — scientists are tracking turkeys, hoping to learn why they are in decline and what might fix it.

Despite the volume of work underway, there are few definitive answers about the declines so far. For now, theories abound. Many suspect a reduction in the types of habitat conducive to turkey nesting might be driving the losses. There is general agreement that there is not just one reason, and that the specifics might vary from place to place.

This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/23/us/turkey-population-declines-oklahoma.html">The New York Times</a>.