Indigenous community brings back majestic animal once nearly driven to extinction in stunning land project: 'It's a very beneficial thing'
Carpenter is the braided science program manager at Indigenous Led, an organization working to elevate Indigenous-led conservation by weaving traditional ecological knowledge with Western science. At the heart of this work is a mission to heal land and community by restoring the sacred relationship between Indigenous people and the buffalo, an animal once driven nearly to extinction through colonization.
In an interview shared by the Moab Sun News, Carpenter explained that buffalo were central to Indigenous life, providing food, clothing, shelter, and tools while shaping entire ecosystems. These efforts in cultural restoration are a holistic model that heals people and the planet together.
Carpenter's work focuses on helping tribes reclaim land and restore it for buffalo. That includes collecting soil and vegetation data, removing invasive species, planting native grasses, and securing funding and permits. "Braided science is all about pulling in the Indigenous knowledge, then mixing in some Western science … and it just turns into this amazing thing," Carpenter told the Moab Sun News.
Carpenter noted that while buffalo are classified as wildlife in some states, others define them as livestock, adding political and bureaucratic challenges to the process. So far, the group has sourced animals from Yellowstone National Park, private herds, and Canada's Oak Island.
In addition to their importance to Indigenous culture, buffalo are a keystone species. That means their return has ripple effects, from boosting biodiversity and promoting native grasses to restoring balance to the ecosystem. "The native grasses also tend to have longer roots so they can hold more carbon in the soil. So it's a very beneficial thing to have buffalo back on the land," Carpenter told the Moab Sun News. "The ecosystem thrives if buffalo are back on the land."
While restoring the ecosystem has plenty of environmental pros, it also benefits people. Healthy ecosystems support pollinators (crucial for protecting our food security) and improve water and soil quality for local communities, directly supporting farmers.
Carpenter explained in the interview: "[Reintroducing the buffalo] is essentially bringing back what was taken from us. There's a lot of reconciliation that needs to happen with Indigenous communities, and bringing back the buffalo, I feel, is the number one way that it needs to happen."
Should the U.S. invest in building more wildlife overpasses?
Absolutely
Depends on how we do it
Depends on where we do it
Nope
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Caravan family witness 'lucky moment' off Aussie coast: 'Pretty incredible'
A family travelling the country in their caravan were treated to an incredible display off the Australian coast right from their campsite. Renee Pike and her husband David, who have spent the past several months camping in Western Australia's Ningaloo region with their two children, aged 6 and 3, couldn't believe their eyes when reviewing drone footage of a reef manta ray cruising right by their home on wheels. Mum Renee, who witnessed the incredible moment at Winderabandi Point in June, told Yahoo News the encounter was "pretty incredible". "We saw the manta cruise past our camp," she explained, adding they decided to throw up their drone to get a closer look. The stunning creature was gliding through the water before it suddenly breached the surface and "did a backflip" in the water. "I've never seen that before," Renee said. She added that the manta captured in the footage is the "biggest" they've spotted during their extensive travels. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Australia's Coral Coast (@australiascoralcoast) Why do manta rays do backflips? Ningaloo is well known for its remarkable marine megafauna, including manta rays, whale sharks, humpback whales, turtles, and even the elusive dugong. Despite countless daily encounters on the reef, Dr Amelia Armstrong, principal researcher at the Ningaloo Manta Project, described what Renee and David saw as a very "lucky moment". While breaches themselves aren't rare, she said catching one on film is "less common". Dr Armstrong said that because the manta's cephalic lobes, the lobes near her mouth, are rolled up, it suggests she wasn't feeding. "With no other animals visible nearby, I think it's likely she was trying to shake off a remora (sucker fish), which often cling to large marine animals and can irritate the skin," she said. Even more amazingly, Dr Armstrong was able to identify the animal in Renee and David's footage as a manta nicknamed The Hoff. The stunning creature was first photographed in Coral Bay in 2005, and has been spotted more than 50 times around the region since then. The belly markings of a manta ray remain unchanged throughout its lifetime, as a useful and unique 'fingerprint' for identification. The Ningaloo Manta Project's citizen science has collected thousands of photos over the years, helping scientists keep track of the rays that call the Ningaloo home. "Every sighting adds a valuable piece to the puzzle of understanding these animals and their mysterious lives along our coastline," Dr Armstrong said. "It's fantastic to see people sharing their footage and stories as it helps us learn more to better protect these beautiful animals, and can inspire others to care." Local residents amazed by incredibly rare sight off Aussie coast Tourists 'totally outraged' by fishing crew's confronting act at sea Incredible event 'triggered by full moon' off famous Aussie coast Family's incredible caravan adventure around Australia Renee and her family, originally from the Gold Coast, have been traveling full-time since March 2023 and show no signs of stopping. While the West Coast holds a special place in their heart for its rugged terrain and incredible reef wildlife, spending two months in Tasmania was another highlight. Renee runs her consulting agency, helping female-founded businesses while on the road. David, previously a construction worker, enjoys quality time with the kids. Travelling around the country has been fantastic for "unplugging from the grind" and realising that "there is another way to do life" for Renee and her family. "It's a really cool way of life," she said, adding that meeting like-minded families has been a highlight of their travels. "It takes a lot to leap, but it kind of shakes you up a bit and makes you realise what's important," she said. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
New York Post
11 hours ago
- New York Post
CBS host warns Trump admin plans for moon base could usher in new age of space colonialism
CBS News host Vladimir Duthiers questioned the Trump administration's plan to establish a base on the moon and drew parallels to Earth's history of colonialism. On 'CBS Mornings Plus' on Wednesday, Duthiers and co-host Adriana Diaz discussed the White House calling for more human space exploration and administration plans to build a nuclear reactor on the moon to precede an eventual U.S. lunar base with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Advertisement Diaz asked if it was 'inevitable that we're going to have to go to the moon and try to colonize the Moon?' Tyson said that the United States is being 'reactive' in a race to the moon with China, and stated, to the laughter of the panel, that he does not want to 'live on the moon.' But Duthiers questioned if colonizing the moon was a good idea. 'We know how the age of colonialism worked on this planet,' the host said. 'Should we be trying to colonize and saying that there's a keep-out zone that no other countries can participate in having?' Advertisement Tyson replied by pointing out that it would be difficult to colonize an area that does not have people. 3 Duthiers questioned if it was a good idea to colonize the moon. CBS 3 United States astronaut Buzz Aldrin salutes the American flag on the surface of the Moon after he and fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first men to land on the Moon during the Apollo 11 space mission July 20, 1969. REUTERS 'Well, the — the real problem with the colonization history in Western civilization is that there were people already there,' Tyson said. Advertisement Duthiers and Diaz agreed, and Tyson added that 'there are no moon beings that were displaced as far as we know.' Tyson later criticized administration plans to decrease funding to NASA. 3 Tyson said that the moon would be difficult to colonize because no one lives there. CBS 'What's not on brand is to cut science programs, not only in NASA, but across the board, and then say, we want to excel in this one spot,' Tyson said. Advertisement 'Well, in the 1960s, science was a major investment profile of the United States,' he continued. 'And by the way, it's not on brand even for Republicans, because Republican administrations since the Second World War have had a higher annual increase, average annual increase, in the science budget than even the Democrats.' 'So Trump's decision to cut science is not on brand for even being a Republican,' Tyson added.
UPI
16 hours ago
- UPI
Rise in colon cancer cases attributed to lower screening age
The American Cancer Society says an uptick in colon cancer cases in the 45-49 age group is a result of lowered screening ages leading to earlier detection. Photo by Adobe Stock/HealthDay There's been a steep increase in colon cancer cases among adults 45 to 49 in recent years, and that's a good thing, experts say. This upsurge means that more colon cancers are being caught at an earlier, more treatable stage, thanks to a decision to lower the screening age from 50 to 45, researchers argue in a pair of new studies from the American Cancer Society. "It is promising news because the uptick of cases is likely due to first-time screening in the wake of new recommendations for younger average-risk adults to begin testing for colorectal cancer earlier," researcher Elizabeth Schaefer, an associate scientist of surveillance and health equity science with the ACS, said in a news release. The ACS lowered its recommended age to begin colon cancer screening from 50 to 45 in 2018, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force followed suit in 2021, researchers said in background notes. To see whether this made a difference, researchers analyzed surveillance data on colon cancer kept by the National Cancer Institute. Results show that colon cancer diagnoses accelerated to 12% per year in people 45 to 49 between 2019 and 2022, following the change in screening recommendations, one of the studies found. That's up from an average annual increase of 1% between 2004 to 2019 among that age group, researchers said. Similarly, there was an average annual increase under 2% for adults 20 to 39, 2% among those 40 to 44 and nearly 3% among those 50 to 54. The increase in colon cancer cases for the 45-to-49 group was driven by a steep rise in the detection of early-stage colon cancers, results show. Since the screening age was lowered, nearly 19% more localized colon cancers and 25% more localized rectal cancers were diagnosed each year in that age group, researchers said. These cancers have not had a chance to spread to other parts of the body and usually cause no symptoms. American Cancer Society researchers also found that colon cancer screening among adults 45 to 49 increased by 62% between 2019 and 2023, according to findings from the second study. In that study, researchers analyzed data on colon cancer screening gathered by the National Health Interview Survey, a regular poll taken by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Results showed that stool-based colon cancer testing increased more than fivefold among 45- to 49-year-olds between 2019 and 2023, and colonoscopies increased by 43%. "It's not only thrilling to see the increase in colorectal cancer screening among younger adults, but also how it likely ties into rises in earlier stage diagnosis as noted in the other ACS-led paper," researcher Jessica Star said in a news release. She's an associate scientist of cancer risk factors and screening surveillance research at the American Cancer Society. Dr. David Rivadeneira, director of the Northwell Health Cancer Institute at Huntington Hospital on Long Island, N.Y., and a colorectal cancer specialist, agrees with the researchers' take on their data. "I think both studies basically show that the screening recommendations are having a significant positive impact, meaning it's doing what it's supposed to do," Rivadeneira, who was not involved in the research, said in a news release. "It's supposed to pick up early cancers, and that's one of the good things about these two studies, that it looks like the vast majority of these cancers are in early stage, which is good because early-stage colon cancer is extremely curative," he said. The recommendation to have a colonscopy at age 45 is affecting survival in these patients, he continued. "Imagine if these patients were not screened at 45 and they have a cancer at this age. They wait till 50. That's five years down the road," Rivadeneira said. "Many of these patients would have distant metastatic or far advanced cancer where the cure rates are not so good." The two new studies were published Aug. 4 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on colon cancer screening. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
