A woodland species long absent from the forests of Ohio has made a triumphant return. For the first time in centuries, wildlife officials have documented the appearance of a furry creature known as the fisher.

Officials at the Cleveland Metroparks detailed the fisher’s comeback, caught on a wildlife camera last year, in a recent Instagram post. It’s the first verified sighting of the mammal in the region since the 1800s, when it was locally driven to extinction. Its reappearance is likely a sign that conservation efforts in the area and nearby states are beginning to bear fruit.

“This is tremendously exciting, as this is yet another extirpated native Ohio mammal species to be documented for the first time in Cleveland Metroparks,” officials said in the post.

A resurgent fisher

The fisher is formally known as Pekania pennanti (or Martes pennanti). It belongs to a large family of carnivorous mammals known as mustelids, which includes weasels, otters, and badgers. Despite the nickname, these tree-climbing mammals actually mostly feed on rabbits, birds, and other small critters; they’re also one of the few animals brave enough to regularly hunt porcupines.

Fishers are now commonly found in the northernmost forests across North America, but their range used to extend farther south throughout the U.S. During the 19th and 20th centuries, however, fisher populations in states like Ohio were devastated by overhunting (they were prized for their fur) and logging-related habitat loss.

Many states had passed hunting restrictions on fishers by the mid-1950s, allowing them to avoid complete extinction. Their overall population numbers today are healthy, but they still haven’t returned to many of the areas of the country where they were once common, and local populations in northwestern states like Washington remain threatened. That makes their recent reemergence in Ohio all the more monumental.

According to Cleveland Metroparks officials, there have been several dozen reports of fishers in the state since 2013. The animal’s latest camera cameo, though, is the first verified sighting in Cuyahoga County since the 1800s, state wildlife officials said.

Returning species

The fisher isn’t the only animal as of late to have found its way back to the region.

“The return of fishers and other [locally extinct] species like otters, bobcats and trumpeter swans are a result of conservation efforts and emphasize the importance of our healthy forests, wetlands, waterways and natural areas in Cleveland Metroparks,” officials said. Reintroduction and breeding programs in nearby states like Pennsylvania and New York might have also facilitated the fisher’s reestablishment.

There are obviously many other native species in North America that remain threatened. That said, it’s nice to take a victory lap when you can.