The hatching of Critically
Endangered Javan Green Magpies has been caught on film for the first time.
The Javan Green Magpie is one of
the world's most endangered species with only around fifty remaining in the
wild, which places it on the verge of extinction. The reason: these beautiful
songbirds are trapped for the illegal bird trade and vast swathes of their
native forest have fallen silent.
Chester is the first UK zoo to
successfully breed the species to give a vital boost to its global population,
with the eventual goal of returning birds to their natural habitat.
Now, for the first time, The
Secret Life of the Zoo cameras capture the moment magpie chicks are
successfully hatched - as well as the courtship ritual between confident
two-year-old Metina and her modest would-be suitor Permata who, at ten months,
still has to earn his dating spurs. But as the tiny chicks emerge, their
fragile lives are still vulnerable and there's no absolute guarantee of
survival.
The Javan Green Magpie is listed
as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of
Nature (IUCN) but bird experts are warning that the situation may have worsened
in recent months amid fears that the magpies may now be close to extinction in
the wild - with no recent sightings reported.
The breeding of several new
chicks in Chester since 2015 has given a huge lift to conservation efforts to
save the birds.
27 December 2017
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