Captive-breeding will not save wild Asian Houbara without regulation of hunting

Date:  November 13, 2018

Source:  University of East Anglia

The survival of the heavily exploited Asian Houbara depends on the regulation of trapping and hunting, according to research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA).

New findings published today reveal that trying to stabilise populations solely through captive breeding will require the release of such large numbers it will inevitably compromise wild populations.

The Asian Houbara, a large, spectacular bird that breeds from the Middle East through Asia, is of major cultural and political significance because of Arab falconry, with hunting influencing international diplomacy. The species is threatened by uncontrolled hunting and poaching, which has caused its decline in the Middle East and Central Asia since the 1960s.

Attempts to conserve the species while also supporting the ancient tradition of Arabian falconry have focused on releasing captive-bred birds in increasing numbers. But research published today in the journal Biological Conservation shows that the species in Uzbekistan is declining by more than 9 per cent each year, and that the number of captive-bred birds needed to be released annually just to stabilise this population would be 1.5 times larger than the wild population itself.

Although captive-breeding can help rescue species from extinction, it bears many risks [see Notes to editors], and such mass-scale releases may compromise the fitness of wild populations. Sustainable hunting and conservation instead needs an integrated approach that also includes controls on hunting, according to Prof Paul Dolman, professor of conservation ecology in UEA's School of Environmental Sciences.

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Researchers release endangered crows into the forests of Pacific island

September 28, 2018

Kim Eckart

UW News

For more than 2 million years, the native forests on the Pacific islands of Guam and Rota were home to several thousand crows, members of a species found nowhere else on Earth. But over the last 60 years, the Mariana crow — called the Aga in the Chamorro language — has completely disappeared from the island of Guam and rapidly declined on neighboring Rota. Today there are only about 175 Aga left in the wild.

To ensure the survival of the species, scientists from the University of Washington and San Diego Zoo Global are partnering with the Northern Mariana Islands Department of Lands and Natural Resources and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service on a bold new project that they hope will stabilize the population of Aga on Rota.

The population got a new start on Sept. 28, when the first cohort of five captive-reared Aga were released on public lands on Rota.

 “Aga are a critical strand in the ecological and cultural web that make up the forests of Guam and Rota. Without drastic measures, we could lose this part of our natural and cultural heritage forever,” said Anthony Benavente, secretary of the Northern Mariana Islands Department of Lands and Natural Resources, or CNMI-DLNR.

An additional five birds will be released into the same area later this year. Researchers will continue to monitor and support the birds for approximately one year after the release to ensure their continued success in the wild.

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The big moment: Nepal releases its first ever captive-reared vultures

20 Nov 2017

Watch as conservation history is made: six captive-reared Critically Endangered White-rumped Vultures venture out into the wild. This comes at a time when the world is finally waking up to the plight of vultures.

By Jessica Law

The moment has finally arrived. Bait is placed outside the entrance of the pre-release aviary, and the door is opened from a remote hide. As wild vultures descended to feed, five out of our six yellow-tagged protagonists are lured outside to join in in the scrum. Soon they are squabbling and interacting with them as if they’d always been part of the gang. And, in a way, they had – in the weeks before their release, they had been socialising with wild vultures through the wire while exercising their wings.

It’s been a fantastic couple of months for vultures. In October, the ambitious Multi-species Action Plan to save 15 vulture species over 128 countries was endorsed with enthusiasm at the Convention on Migratory Species Conference of Parties in Manila. At almost exactly the same time in India, the Madras high Court ruled to uphold the dosage restriction on vulture-killing drug diclofenac. And last week, in Nepal, six captive-reared White-rumped Vultures were finally released into a wild that, for the first time in decades, could be truly vulture-safe.

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Captive-bred, some of world's rarest wading birds released in Mackenzie Basin

JOHN BISSET/STUFF

51 young Black Stilts were released into the wild at the head of Lake Tekapo on Tuesday.

The last captive juvenile kaki – the rarest wading bird in the world – ventured into the wild for their first time in the Mackenzie Basin.

Fifty-one of the birds were released onto the Godley Delta, at the head of Lake Tekapo on Mt Gerald Station, on Tuesday afternoon.

The 9-month-old kaki were released by Department of Conservation (DOC) staff and pupils from St Andrew's College in Christchurch.

The boxes open and kaki, or black stilts, are released into the wild at the head of Lake Tekapo.

Their release meant there were now no juvenile kaki left in captivity ahead of the next breeding season, DOC aviculturist Liz Brown said.

There are 106 adult kaki in the wild and five adult breeding pairs in captivity. Two of those pairs were in Twizel and three were in Christchurch, she said.

DOC biodiversity senior ranger Dean Nelson said the release of the birds was "very cool"; it was "like all our hard work has come to fruition".

Tuesday was the fourth date to be scheduled for the release. The other dates were affected by rain or high winds.

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