San Diego Zoo Releases 7 Hawaiian Crows to Help Rebuild Species in Wild

POSTED BY CHRIS JENNEWEIN ON SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 IN TECH | 29 VIEWS

The San Diego Zoo announced Tuesday that its researchers in Hawaii released seven ‘alala, a critically endangered species also known as the Hawaiian crow, into the wild earlier this month.

Researchers at the zoo’s Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program and their partners with the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released the birds into the Pu’u Maka’ala Natural Area Reserve on Mauna Loa.

The three entities launched a partnership two years ago known as the ‘Alala Project to reintroduce the species back into the wild. The team released five males and two females into the reserve to join other groups of ‘alala already living in the area. Roughly 20 birds now live in the reserve’s forests despite the species once being extinct in the wild.

“Recovering threatened and endangered species is bigger than any one community or agency: it takes everyone working together,” said Michelle Bogardus, a geographic team leader in Hawaii with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The research and conservation group documented multiple pairs of `alala showing breeding and courtship behaviors, including birds that were first released in 2017. The ‘Alala Project members expect the species’ recovery to take many more years, but say they are already seeing positive signs.

“‘Alala form complex bonds as breeding pairs and must work together to build their nests,” said Alison Greggor, a research associate with the Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program. “Having released ‘alala engage in the full suite of breeding and nest- building behaviors in their first season as adults represents a huge step forward for the program, and their recovery as a species.”

— City News Service

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Conservation agency, wildlife group to release 100 songbirds in Kerinci Seblat

Jon Afrizal

The Jakarta Post

Jambi / Tue, July 16, 2019 / 06:24 pm

The Jambi Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) and Flora and Fauna International (FFI) are set to release 100 white-rumped shamas into the wild amid rampant illegal hunting in Jambi province.

Locally known as murai batu or kurcica hutan, the songbirds will be released at Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS) in September.

Agency head Rahmad Saleh acknowledged that the release of the birds was a response to the decline of the species in the wild due to widespread hunting.

Even though the population of the singing bird is reported to be threatened, the white-rumped shama is not listed as a protected bird in Indonesia.

“We have so many singing birds right now. However, the population will continue to decline,” Rahmad said.

The birds, to be released in September, come from breeding facilities in Bogor, West Java. Each breeding facility in the country is obliged to release 10 percent of the animals it breeds into the wild.

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Six Palila Released Into Newly Restored Forest on Big Island

By Big Island Now

May 21, 2019, 8:30 AM HST (Updated May 21, 2019, 7:43 AM)

A half-dozen palila, hatched and raised at the San Diego Zoo Global’s (SDZG) Keauhou Bird Conservation Center, flew in the open air for the first time in their lives on Sunday and Monday, May 19 and 20, 2019.

Palila, a distant relative of finches, are the last surviving members of sixteen species of finch-billed, seed-eating birds in the main Hawaiian Islands. They were once found on Kaua‘i and O‘ahu, but are now found only high on the slopes of Maunakea.

The multi-year effort to try and boost their numbers and prevent their possible extinction involves a large number of collaborators, many of whom had representatives on hand to assist with today’s release into the Pu‘u Mali Restoration Area on towering Maunakea’s northern flank.

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They’re soarin’, flyin’: 40 critically-endangered Bali starlings released from conservation into the wild

By Coconuts Bali Apr. 26, 2019

Today, 40 Bali starlings, also known as Bali myna birds, were released into the wild from the Bali Safari and Marine Park conservation in Gianyar regency. The species, usually called Jalak or Curik Bali in Indonesian, is native to the island and one of its most iconic mascots.

Bali starlings are identified by their white feathers, black wings and tail tips, unique blue marks around their eyes, and long, spiky feathers on the tops of their heads. 

The release ceremony was led by Bali Vice Governor Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana, Bali Police Deputy Chief I Gede Alit Widana, West Bali National Park head Agus Ngurah Krisna, and the head of Bali Starling Preservation Association (APBC), Tony Sumampouw.

Tony said the 40 Bali starlings were obtained from Japanese and European animal associations in 2017. During captivity, the birds were trained to fly into the wild.

“The monitoring team will observe them in the morning and evening to see their situation in the wild. We’ll monitor them for three years, until they’re ready to breed,” Tony said today, as quoted by Kumparan. 

The Bali starling is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Conservation officials in Bali say that, apart from natural factors, poaching of these birds has driven them close to extinction. Captured Bali starlings are usually sold for IDR15-20 million (US$1,056-1,408) each in the illegal wildlife blackmarket.

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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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Conservationists hail “special” first flight as rare birds are released in Cambridgeshire Fens

PUBLISHED: 15:56 21 June 2018

Daniel Mansfield

A flock of rare black-tailed godwits were released in the Cambridgeshire Fens after being painstakingly hand-reared by conservationists.

Many of the birds released on June 20 were not expected to hatch due to the terrible condition of the eggs as a result of the late spring downpours.

However, the eggs, which were rescued from muddy farmland, and the chicks were safely raised until old enough to look after themselves.

This practice is one element of Project Godwit – a partnership between the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust (WWT) and the RSPB - which aims to restore the UK breeding population by collecting eggs for rear and release, known as head-starting.

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UAE releases 1,000 Houbara Bustard in RYK in pursuit of conservation

May 12, 2018

In the presence of UAE Embassy in Islamabad and representatives of Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC) Abu Dhabi and officials of Forest, Wildlife and Fisheries Department of the Punjab province and Pakistani media, the UAE released 1,000 Houbara birds in Rahim Yar Khan as part of its constant pursuit and efforts of preservation, and an achievement of the United Arab Emirates.

On this occasion H.E. Hamad Obaid Al Zaabi, the UAE Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, said that the UAE has achieved a distinguished position on global level in its efforts to conserve the Houbara and its leading role been recognized in this field. Family breeding projects have been launched in Abu Dhabi for more than 40 years, and have achieved outstanding results despite the difficulty in houbara’s captivity of producing for its distinguished habitate from other birds that can be multiplied in captivity. On this occasion, the Ambassador said that the UAE is the first country in the world to track Houbara birds through satellites during their migrating from north to south, founder of the United Arab Emirates, at that time the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, sensed the dangers for Houbara, and he began to warn that if we do not initiate the successful ways to protect this rare species, the Houbara will eventually become extinct and will disappear from our heritage and the future of our children.

Al Zaabi revealed that the story of the success of Abu Dhabi’s efforts in breeding Houbara, specifically in 1977, and of the Al-Ain Zoo, with no more than seven Asian Houbaras, was the first nucleus of captive breeding in the United Arab Emirates. After prolong efforts to lay the foundations for captivity breeding programs with a firm and strong determination for several years, the first Asian chick was successfully produced in captivity in 1982.

H.E. recalled that H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan described this remarkable moment as saying: ‘If I forget, I will not forget that day when this good news conveyed to the late Sheikh Zayed and the feelings of human beings and the joy that filled his life as the promising results fruited that this rare bird will begin to multiply in the heart of the UAE’s vibrant environment. His Highness stressed that the UAE’s keenness to raise, study and preserve Houbara comes from a sense of responsibility, as Houbara defines the ancient heritage and deeply rooted history for more than two thousand years and a genuine tendency to preserve one of the pillars of our national heritage, which we inherited from our parents and grandparents, therefore, preserving it is a safeguard for species and for this ancient heritage and authentic traditions, and it is only adopted by those of thought and determination.

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Second batch of rare houbara bird to be reintroduced in Jordan in February

1/15/2018 10:44:03 PM

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) AMMAN – A new batch of the houbara bustard, a rare desert bird that has been extinct in Jordan until recently, will be released back to its natural habitat under an ongoing programme to reintroduce the bird to the Kingdom, a conservationist said on Monday.

The houbara bustard, recognised by nature conservationists as 'an icon of the Arabian desert', will be released in February under the second phase of a programme started in 2014 under a partnership between the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) and the Abu Dhabi-based International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC).

The RSCN and the IFHC on Sunday signed the agreement of the programme's second phase, after field surveys proved the success of the first phase with the apparition of nests and chicks, RSCN Director General Yehya Khaled said.

"The new batch of birds will be released under the second phase in February in the historical habitat of the houbara, including Wadi Araba, the eastern and northeastern desert," Khaled told The Jordan Times.

The second phase will last until 2022, Khaled said, noting that the society will release batches every year.

The IFHC will be transferring the birds to Jordan from breeding centres located abroad, according to the RSCN official.

The houbara bustard reintroduction programme started in Jordan as an initiative of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the UAE armed forces, according to the RSCN, which said that the bird was last recorded in Jordan in the 1990s due to the destruction of its habitat and high levels of hunting.

A total of 1,300 birds has been released in Jordan between 2014 and 2017, according to the society, which reported sightings of houbara nests in the east of the country, nest and chicks in Wadi Araba and nesting in the Wadi Rum area.

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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-reared Critically Endangered vultures soon to be released in Nepal

8 Nov 2017

Conservationists are making great progress in removing vulture-killing drug diclofenac from Nepal, with vulture populations stabilising as a result. Now, in this safer environment, it’s almost time for six captive-reared White-rumped Vultures to venture out into the wild.

South Asian vultures have famously suffered devastating population declines in recent decades. For example, 99.9% of White-rumped Vultures Gyps bengalensis were wiped out between 1992 and 2007. This was due to the use of diclofenac: an anti-inflammatory drug given to reduce pain in livestock, but deadly to vultures that subsequently feed on their carcasses. A ban on veterinary diclofenac in India, Nepal and Pakistan in 2006 and Bangladesh in 2010 has allowed vulture populations to stabilise and possibly start to recover in some areas.

However, five of South Asia’s nine vulture species remain Endangered or Critically Endangered; the misuse of human diclofenac to treat livestock, as well as the use of other vulture-toxic veterinary drugs, continues to threaten some South Asian vulture populations with extinction. BirdLife Partners are changing that, through a combination of advocacy, legislation and education.

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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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‘Project Godwit’ sees 25 rare birds released into the Cambridgeshire Fens by the RSPB and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Welney

PUBLISHED: 10:27 13 June 2017 | UPDATED: 10:27 13 June 2017

sarah cliss

Project Godwit has seen 25 rare black-tailed Godwits hand reared and then released into the Cambridgeshire Fens. The human carers watch as the birds take their first flights to freedom.

Twenty-five rare black-tailed godwits were released into their new home in the Cambridgeshire Fens on Monday by conservationists from RSPB and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) as part of ‘Project Godwit’.

After the eggs were removed from nests and hatched in incubators, staff at WWT Welney Wetland Centre hand-reared the young birds until they were old enough to look after themselves.

It’s the first time the conservation technique, known as ‘headstarting’, has been used in the UK. 

The surrogate human ‘parents’ have been able to safely raise far more chicks than the godwits themselves, away from the dangers of predators and flooding. 

And, crucially, by removing the eggs from their nests early, they have prompted each pair of godwits to lay a second clutch, giving the parent birds a chance to raise a brood of their own.

Now the hand-reared birds have been released, they are expected to meet up with other black-tailed godwits hatched in the area this summer, and spend several weeks feeding on the rich wetlands before starting their migration to Spain, Portugal and West Africa. 

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Last of the puaiohi released

Posted: Tuesday, March 21, 2017 2:33 pm | Updated: 2:34 pm, Tue Mar 21, 2017.

LIHUE — Dozens of times, over the course of nearly two decades, staff from one of two bird conservation centers on Maui and Hawaii island boarded a Hawaiian Airlines plane with either a small wooden box or a large, six compartment crate.

For each trip to Kauai they were transporting captive raised puaiohi, 240 in all, to release them to the remote, rugged Alakai Plateau below Mt. Waialeale.

Monday, the two-compartment box carried onto the plane by an employee of the San Diego Zoo Global’s Maui Bird Conservation Center, got a lot of attention from passengers.

Is it a dog? Is it a cat? No, the worker explained, it is a puaiohi, one of a half dozen rare, endangered forest birds found only in the montane forests of Kauai.

San Diego Zoo Global’s Maui Bird Conservation Center officially ended its puaiohi captive breeding program a year ago, with the release of 15 birds.

On Monday, Jennifer Holler, research associate in recovery ecology, carried the final two puaiohi to Kauai to be released because they were underweight and not quite ready for release a year ago.

For Holler, it was a moment she won’t forget anytime soon.

“This is very exciting for me,” she said. “I started working with this species more than 10 years ago, and we all hope this final step in the recovery program means the puaiohi will continue to thrive in the wild.”

Dr. Lisa “Cali” Crampton, project leader for the Kaua‘i Forest Bird Recovery Project, said the puaiohi captive-breeding program was continued for 18 years and initially had great success.

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