'Thrilling to Watch': Fishers From Canada Released in Washington State to Restore Native Population

Wildlife authorities working to reintroduce native species to Washington State released five fishers, a member of the weasel family that disappeared from Washington by the 1930s, in Olympic National Park on November 5.

Footage released by the park service shows the animals, which were brought from Alberta, running into the forest from wooden crates near Lake Ozette.

“It was thrilling to watch these beautiful animals sprint away into the forest,” the Olympic National Park team said in a statement on Facebook.

The release was part of a wider, almost 20-year-long project to restore native species to Washington State, the National Park Service said.

“Watching fishers return to the forests of the Olympic Peninsula is truly inspiring,” said Olympic National Park superintendent Sarah Creachbaum. “As they scamper through lush ferns and back into our biodiverse landscape, you can tell they belong here, and will enrich our natural heritage and support the overall health of this ecosystem.” Credit: Olympic National Park via Storyful