<
https://www.audubon.org/news/the-guam-kingfisher-could-soon-return-wild-after-30-year-absence>
"Once extinct in the wild, the California Condor now soars across the western
United States thanks to successful breeding in captivity that allowed their
later reintroduction to the wild. Now, a dedicated team is poised to do the
same for the bright red and blue Guam Kingfisher. Endemic to Guam and
extirpated on the island since 1988, these birds may soon fly free on a Pacific
island—one more than 3,000 miles from their native home.
“It’s the first, long-overdue, much-needed step,” says Suzanne Medina, a
wildlife biologist at the Guam Department of Agriculture Division of Aquatic
and Wildlife Resources who helps lead the kingfisher’s recovery. “I am feeling
very optimistic.”
As with most of the native bird species on Guam, by the 1980s the kingfisher
was wiped out by invasive brown tree snakes, which were introduced to the U.S.
territory shortly after World War II, creating a “silent forest” devoid of bird
song. The Guam Kingfisher, known as Sihek in the indigenous Chamorro language,
was spared from extinction when biologists brought the remaining 29 birds into
captivity. Today, nearly 140 Sihek live in 25 facilities around the world, but
their survival depends on a successful reintroduction to the wild.
“Getting them back into the wild, but also growing that captive population, are
two things that need to happen to have the Guam Kingfisher persisting,” says
John Ewen, a conservation biologist at the Zoological Society of London and
member of the Sihek recovery team."
Via
Future Crunch:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-gun-violence-america-cancer-europe-conservation-bolivia/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
