American chestnut returns to Bronx Zoo more than 120 years after blight was first documented; 25 hybrid saplings planted on 265-acre grounds; NYC expands 1,000-tree restoration drive after disease killed nearly 4 billion trees

American chestnut trees are returning to the Bronx Zoo more than 120 years after the blight was first documented. (Photo: TACF.org)

More than 120 years after the American chestnut blight was first documented at the Bronx Zoo, the iconic tree is making a historic return to the same grounds where its devastating decline was first recorded.On Monday, October 5, the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo and the New York Restoration Project planted the first of 25 hybrid American chestnut saplings at the zoo. According to a release issued by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the trees were donated by NYRP in partnership with The American Chestnut Foundation and will be planted across three locations on the 265-acre zoo grounds.The return marks a significant moment in efforts to restore a species that was once a defining feature of forests across the eastern United States but is now considered functionally extinct in the wild.

The blight that changed America’s forests

Nearly 4 billion American chestnut trees were killed by the devastating blight that spread across North America. (Photo: Forest History Society)

The American chestnut was once one of the largest and most abundant trees in the forests of the eastern United States. It provided food and habitat for wildlife while also supplying valuable timber for generations of people.That changed at the beginning of the 20th century when chestnut blight began killing trees across the region.In 1904, Bronx Zoo Chief Forester Hermann Merkel observed canker-covered chestnut trunks and became the first person to document the disease. The blight subsequently spread throughout the tree’s native range, from Maine to Florida and westward to the Ohio Valley.The Wildlife Conservation Society notes that the disease ultimately devastated the species, with nearly 4 billion American chestnut trees killed over the following decades.Today, the American chestnut survives primarily through isolated trees, breeding programmes and hybrids designed to retain characteristics of the native species while improving resistance to the blight.

25 hybrid trees planted at Bronx Zoo

The Bronx Zoo and NYRP planted 25 hybrid American chestnut saplings as part of the restoration effort. (Photo: American Chestnut.org)

According to information provided by WCS, the 25 new saplings will be distributed among three areas of the Bronx Zoo: just north of the pedestrian path at Tiger Mountain, along the eastern bank of the Bronx River and along the riverwalk.Craig Piper, director of the Bronx Zoo, said the planting is part of an effort to strengthen the forest maintained at the zoo.“This is an effort for us to continue to strengthen the forest that we maintain, and chestnuts would’ve been a significant part of the Bronx Zoo forest,” Piper said.If the trees establish successfully, the zoo plans to plant more chestnuts in the future.Jason Smith, a director at the New York Restoration Project, also highlighted the tree’s cultural and ecological importance. Speaking to Gothamist, Smith said, “Chestnut trees have great cultural significance. This will help preserve our natural heritage.”“People love the nuts. People use the lumber. It has really important ecological significance,” he added.

New York’s growing chestnut restoration effort

New York City is expanding efforts to restore the American chestnut, with 25 hybrid saplings now planted at the Bronx Zoo as part of a wider conservation drive. (Photo: American Chestnut.org)

The Bronx Zoo planting is part of a broader effort to bring American chestnuts back to New York City’s urban landscape.According to NYRP and WCS, the restoration project began expanding its chestnut planting efforts in 2017, when more than 200 hybrid chestnuts were planted at Highbridge Park in Upper Manhattan, creating what is described as New York City’s largest chestnut grove.Nearly a decade later, those trees have grown to more than 40 feet tall and are producing flowers, fruit and nuts.The saplings are hybrids combining the American chestnut with blight-resistant Asian chestnut varieties in an effort to preserve the characteristics of the native tree while increasing its ability to withstand the disease.In 2025, NYRP launched the 1,000 Chestnut Challenge, aimed at expanding the number of chestnut trees across New York City and involving residents in the species’ restoration.In the first year of the initiative, NYRP planted more than 80 trees across parks, green spaces and backyards. This year, more than 350 additional saplings were distributed across the city’s five boroughs, while the goal for next year is to plant at least 500 more.

‘Our urban ecosystem can play a part in conservation’

Speaking to Gothamist, Smith said the response from New Yorkers has demonstrated strong interest in helping restore the species.“We’ve found the interest to be overwhelming of folks wanting to plant the tree in New York City,” he said. “It’s really important for people to remember that our urban ecosystem can play a part in conservation.”The restoration effort comes as several native New York tree species, including beech, hemlock and ash, face threats from diseases and invasive species.“Our native forests are really under threat from disease, and so finding the opportunity to bring back a tree that was on the brink of extinction is incredibly important,” Smith said, according to Gothamist.

A historic homecoming

For the Bronx Zoo, the new plantings carry particular significance because of its role in documenting the beginning of the chestnut’s catastrophic decline.The disease first documented by Merkel in 1904 would eventually transform forests across much of eastern North America. More than a century later, hybrid American chestnuts are being planted at the same institution where that history was first recorded.The planting expands the network of restoration sites across New York while reconnecting the American chestnut with a location that played a unique role in documenting its disappearance.The New York Restoration Project, founded in 1995, has made urban tree planting and ecological restoration a central part of its work across New York City. According to the organisation, it has planted and distributed nearly 300,000 trees and restored more than 300 acres of parkland since its founding.The Bronx Zoo, which opened in 1899, occupies 265 acres of hardwood forest in the Bronx and is the flagship park of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s network of urban wildlife parks.The return of the American chestnut to the zoo therefore represents more than a new planting. It is an attempt to restore a species that once helped define the region’s forests – at the very place where its fight against extinction was first documented.