The Bronx Zoo has planted 20 American Chestnut saplings, marking a significant effort to reintroduce a species that has been functionally extinct for over a century. This initiative, undertaken in collaboration with the New York Restoration Project (NYRP), aims to restore the American Chestnut to the forests of New York City.

Craig Piper, interim director of the Bronx Zoo, described the planting as "historic," noting the absence of chestnuts on the zoo's grounds for approximately 100 years. The species was decimated by a blight discovered by the zoo's former Chief Forester, Hermann Merkel, in 1904. Merkel documented the devastating impact of the fungus, predicting the species' demise within years.

The blight ultimately led to the loss of nearly 4 billion American Chestnut trees across North America, rendering the species "functionally extinct."

The 3-foot-tall saplings planted are not pure American Chestnuts but a hybrid mix. Horticulturalists hope this genetic variation will provide greater resistance to the blight. Jason Smith, the NYRP's Director of Northern Manhattan Parks, explained that while the trees may still be affected by the disease, the expectation is that they will survive and grow.

"These trees are now a huge milestone," Smith stated. "The American Chestnut was our most abundant, largest tree, a 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."

An app is used to catalogue American chestnut trees as they are distributed to workers for planting at the Bronx Zoo in New York, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. The planting is part of an effort to bring back the American chestnut tree.

The zoo has planted 17 saplings in two plots along the Bronx River to maximize sunlight and minimize foot traffic. An additional three saplings are located near the Tiger Mountain exhibit, intended to be visible to visitors and serve as an educational display about the tree's history and conservation efforts.

"We're 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," Smith added.

Approximately 400 American Chestnut trees currently exist in the five boroughs, most of which were planted by the NYRP with assistance from the American Chestnut Foundation.