{"id":366144,"date":"2026-10-06T19:38:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T19:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/366144\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T19:38:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T19:38:07","slug":"bronx-zoo-plants-mini-forest-of-functionally-extinct-trees-after-species-was-ravaged-fungus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/366144\/","title":{"rendered":"Bronx Zoo plants mini-forest of ‘functionally extinct’ trees after species was ravaged fungus"},"content":{"rendered":"

The zoo is branching out.<\/p>\n

The Bronx Zoo introduced a \u201cfunctionally extinct\u201d tree species<\/a> at its grounds Monday \u2014 more than a century after the institution\u2019s own scientist discovered a deadly fungus was decimating the plants.<\/p>\n

Twenty American Chestnut saplings were scattered across three sites at the sprawling conservation center<\/a>, including at the footsteps of Tiger Mountain, as part of a city-wide effort to breathe life back into the species.<\/p>\n

The Bronx Zoo planted 20 American Chestnut saplings on its grounds Monday. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s historic for us. We haven\u2019t had chestnuts on property here for a hundred years,\u201d Craig Piper, the interim director of the Bronx Zoo, told The Post as he watched his team tenderly plant the tiny trees. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe thought of bringing them back and bringing them to once again be part of the hardwood forests of New York City, that\u2019s exciting for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The zoo\u2019s mini forest, erected in conjunction with the New York Restoration Project (NYRP), marks the first time American Chestnuts have been on the zoo\u2019s property since its former Chief Forester discovered a \u201cdeadly fungus\u201d was eating away at the gorgeous, 100-foot-tall trees.<\/p>\n

Hermann Merkel was the first to document the blight in 1904<\/a> \u2014 writing that \u201cunless some radical measures are taken, or a natural enemy of this fungus develops, it is safe to predict that not a live specimen of the American Chestnut will be found two years hence in the neighborhood of the Zoological Park,\u201d the former name of the Bronx Zoo.<\/p>\n

The blight would go on to decimate nearly 4 billion American chestnut trees across North America, rendering it \u201cfunctionally extinct.\u201d<\/p>\n

A chestnut tree infected with fungus is seen at the Bronx Zoo, then known as the New York Zoological Park, in the 1905 report by Chief Forester Hermann Merkel. New York Zoological Society<\/p>\n

But the 20 saplings aren\u2019t exactly the same trees whose canopy once blanketed the US \u2014 the 3-foot-tall trees planted Monday are a hybrid mix that horticulturalists hope will make them stronger against the blight they expect to eventually creep onto the trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese trees most likely will get the disease, and it will impact them. But we also expect them to grow,\u201d said Jason Smith, the NYRP\u2019s Director, Northern Manhattan Parks, saying that the \u201cworst-case scenario\u201d would be that the trees wouldn\u2019t flower and reproduce.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese trees are now a huge milestone \u2026 [The American Chestnut] was our most abundant, largest tree, very important part of our forest ecosystem. It was a huge ecological catastrophe for the nation. And so the opportunity to bring it back is wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The American Chestnut is \u201cfunctionally extinct\u201d in the wild. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cThese trees most likely will get the disease, and it will impact them. But we also expect them to grow,\u201d said Jason Smith, seen here handling the sapling. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n

Three saplings are right off the pathway of Tiger Mountain for visitors to see. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n

The trees will also serve as a research opportunity \u2014 they will be under constant observation by the zoo\u2019s horticulture staff to see how the saplings are faring.<\/p>\n

Seventeen were planted across two plots along the Bronx River in order to receive maximum sunlight and less traffic, while three live in the shadier footpath north of Tiger Mountain where they are essentially on exhibit like their neighboring felines \u2014 visitors will get a first-hand look at their growth and zoologists will point out their story as they take families through the park.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re inviting New Yorkers to engage in hands-on, important work to address the biodiversity crisis by bringing back a tree that was on the brink of extinction,\u201d said Smith.<\/p>\n

Just around 400 American Chestnut trees exist in the five boroughs, nearly all of which were planted by the NYRP with the help of the American Chestnut Foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The zoo is branching out. The Bronx Zoo introduced a \u201cfunctionally extinct\u201d tree species at its grounds Monday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,25511,71652,57,9,24,197,63,129,131,130,11447,58],"class_list":["post-366144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-bronx-zoo","tag-endangered-species","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-life","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-trees","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}