The tale of the heath hen is a Vineyard story.

Buried deep within the woods of the Manuel Correllus State Forest is a statue of Booming Ben, the world’s final heath hen. Once common, the species was hunted to near-extinction in the 1870s.

A single male heath hen, almost certainly the sole survivor of its species in the whole world, showed itself this week.

An effort to bring the heath hen back into existence is now the leading de-extinction project in the world, putting the Vineyard at the forefront of new technology in wildlife conservation.

The first phase of a ground-breaking project to bring the heath hen back from extinction has been successfully completed, scientists said this week. The path to bringing back the bird is getting more tangible, and scientists say the heath hen could be “the gateway bird” for avian de-extinction.

A complex and groundbreaking project that aims to bring back the heath hen is advancing “at lightning speed,” scientists said this week.

Bringing back an extinct species raises a whirlwind of questions — technical, ethical and financial. Would it be possible? Should it be done?

I sincerely doubt if heath hens were re-introduced to the Vineyard that they would make it through one season.

The last heath hen disappeared from Martha's Vineyard in 1932 and the species declared extinct in 1933.

The heath hen’s story of decline and extinction has become inextricably linked to Martha’s Vineyard.