14 June 2016
One of the world's rarest birds -
the spoon-billed sandpiper - has laid eggs in captivity for the first time.
Two females laid seven eggs at
the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), Slimbridge, Gloucestershire.
There are only about 200 breeding
pairs of the critically endangered species left in the wild.
Nigel Jarrett, from the trust,
said when staff discovered the first egg last week they "almost couldn't
believe it".
Mr Jarrett, WWT head of
conservation, said staff had "done their best" to enhance breeding
conditions, with special lightbulbs, timer switches and lots of sand and
netting to recreate the experience of migrating from tropical Asia to Arctic
Russia.
'Scratching our heads'
"For the last two years -
ever since all the spoonies came into maturity - we've been doing everything to
get these birds in the mood for love," he said.
"And for two years we've
come up scratching our heads and feeling a bit deflated. Now, we've had two
mums busy laying and the significance of it is only just starting to hit
home."
The WWT began trying to establish
a flock at Slimbridge in 2011, as a back-up to the wild population which was
declining by up to 25% a year.
But with its extreme lifestyle -
including making an annual 10,000-mile round-trip between Russian Arctic
breeding grounds and wintering grounds in South East Asia - the bird has never
been bred in captivity.
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