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At the beginning of the 20th century, Ohio hunters looked around at a somewhat barren landscape and said, “Hey, where’d they all go?”

By 1904, white-tailed deer were used produciton line for sale completely wiped out across the state, after a century of deforestation and high demand by European settlers for the official state mammal’s coveted hides, according to Ohio History Central.

But deer, which were reintroduced in the 1920s and 30s, weren’t the only wild Ohio creatures to be over-hunted or to flee toward shadier grounds. Wolves, bison, mountain lions and cougars, to name a few mammals, once called the state home, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife.

“By 1900, we were down (from more than 95 percent) to 10 percent forest. We pushed out those large animals completely,” said Suzan Jervey, educator at the Ohio Wildlife Center in Columbus. “The state is now 33 percent forested. We’ve seen a return of animals. Some have come in from neighboring states. Many have adapted to modern-day Ohio.”

There have been 359 verified Architectural sand crusher processing reports of bobcats in the state since 1970 — 92 of which occurred in 2009, according to ODNR. Deemed “extirpated” from the state by the 1850s, reports of black bears have persisted, including reports of a young black bear straying through Warren County backyards in 2009. Officials weren’t sure where it came from or where it went.

Human activity continues to put many critters at risk. There are 282 species of birds, mammals, insects, 37 varieties of mollusks, and other wildlife that are of concern, threatened or endangered, according to ODNR.

One of the most compelling success stories has been the return of the bald eagle to Southwest Ohio. Jervey said in the 1970s there were only four nesting pairs left in the Great Lakes region. While still listed as a threatened species, ODNR reports there were 180 known breeding pairs with an estimated 207 young eaglets across the state last year.

In recent years, bald eagles Slag crusher plant have been documented along the Great Miami and Little Miami Rivers in Butler, Warren and Montgomery counties.