5 Sep 2017
By Jean Hugues Gardenne and Obaka
Torto
Re-introducing birds to suitable
habitats where species have gone extinct is often a very important and
sometimes a last resort to sustain the survival of some threatened Mauritian
bird species. The Mauritian
Wildlife Foundation (MWF), the BirdLife International Partner in
Mauritius, has a long and successful track record of exploiting bird
translocation opportunities at any given time.
In recent years, MWF has worked
with other partners in the country like the National Parks and Conservation
Service of the Ministry of Agro Industry and Food Security, the CIEL Group, the
UNDP/GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP), HSBC, Chester Zoo (UK),and the Critical
Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), to translocate several Mauritian birds,
including the Pink Pigeon, Echo Parakeet, Cuckoo Shrike and Paradise Flycatcher
from the Black River Gorges National Park in the south west to the east of the
island, in Ferney Valley (Bambous Mountains). This strategy has helped to
create new subpopulations and increased the total population of some bird
species, as it contributes to their distribution, saves them from extinction
and loss of genetic diversity.
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