The Bronx Zoo took delivery of 25 blight‑resistant American Chestnut saplings on Oct. 5, 2026, as part of an effort to reintroduce the species.
The saplings are intended to aid the restoration of the American Chestnut, a tree that once dominated eastern North American forests before a fungal blight decimated it in the early 1900s.
Breeding programs now produce resistant saplings for such reintroduction projects.