Thanksgiving Without the Turkey?

Thanksgiving Without the Turkey?

It’s hard to imagine Americans sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner without the turkey centerpiece.

But the broad-breasted Thanksgiving turkey in the grocery store is not a creature with much genetic diversity, according to Karen Mock, wildlife scientist at Utah State University. And wild stocks, which serve as the reservoir for genetic diversity in domesticated turkeys, may be at risk for inbreeding.

“Numerically, wild turkey numbers are looking great right now,” Mock said. “It’s the long-term future of these populations that we’re worried about.”

Wild turkeys, native only to North American, were eliminated from up to 80 percent of their original range in the early 1900s due to habitat loss and over-harvesting. 

“The effort to reintroduce wild turkeys to their original range and beyond is one of the great success stories in wildlife management,” Mock said. But most of this success is due to translocation from a limited number of source populations, and these populations are themselves the source for further translocations, she said. (Full story)

It’s hard to imagine Americans sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner without the turkey centerpiece.

But the broad-breasted Thanksgiving turkey in the grocery store is not a creature with much genetic diversity, according to Karen Mock, wildlife scientist at Utah State University. And wild stocks, which serve as the reservoir for genetic diversity in domesticated turkeys, may be at risk for inbreeding.

“Numerically, wild turkey numbers are looking great right now,” Mock said. “It’s the long-term future of these populations that we’re worried about.”

Wild turkeys, native only to North American, were eliminated from up to 80 percent of their original range in the early 1900s due to habitat loss and over-harvesting. 

“The effort to reintroduce wild turkeys to their original range and beyond is one of the great success stories in wildlife management,” Mock said. But most of this success is due to translocation from a limited number of source populations, and these populations are themselves the source for further translocations, she said. (Full story)