(TNS) — Good news for nature!
A species that was once declared extinct is making a comeback.
ABC Mildura-Swan Hill News reports how the olive perchlet — a fish in Victoria, Australia that once thought to have gone the way of the dodo — was released for the first time into the area in decades and has been brought “back from the brink of extinction.”
The same ABC Mildura-Swan Hill News report explains how the fish had been bred in captivity and reintroduced into wetlands and river systems at Gubower National Park.
According to The Cool Down, the slow decline of the wetlands as well as the influx of invasive species contributed to the olive perchlet’s disappearance. Now that they’re back, conservationists are hoping their presence will balance out the ecosystem.
“If we see these species across the board disappear, a lot of them are these small-bodied species, then we’re going to see a major effect for the rest of those food webs,” explains Sam Fawke of the Victoria Fisheries Authority to ABC Mildura-Swan Hill News.
People states that — after just 100 olive perchlet were released into the area — the North Central Catchment Management Authority has clocked “a whopping 855 individuals thriving” in the region.
