Watch extra of our movies on Shots!
and reside on Freeview channel 276
Scientists have managed to seize images of a golden-crowned hen feared extinct after greater than 20 years with out being seen.
The first-ever image of a yellow-crested helmetshrike, listed as ‘misplaced’ by the American Bird Conservancy, was taken throughout a recent expedition led by University of Texas at El Paso researchers. Scientists spent six weeks trekking 75 miles by means of the Itombwe Massif, a mountain vary in jap Democratic Republic of the Congo, learning birds, amphibians, and reptiles alongside the best way.
The images of the helmetshrikes have now been reviewed and confirmed by the conservancy’s misplaced birds undertaking. Ornithologist Dr Michael Harvey, who was on the expedition, mentioned coming throughout the birds was a “mind-blowing expertise”, after twenty years with no sightings.
“We knew they is likely to be attainable right here, however I used to be not ready for the way spectacular and distinctive they would seem in life,” Dr Harvey continued. The researches stumbled upon a quite “noisy and lively” group of the placing black birds – which have vivid yellow ‘helmets’ – whereas exploring the cloud forests on the slopes of a mountain, he continued. In whole, about 18 birds have been discovered at three websites throughout the journey.
The yellow-crested helmetshrike, scientific identify Prionops alberti, is endemic to the western slopes of the Albertine Rift of Central Africa. However, Dr Harvey mentioned the area has traditionally been largely inaccessible because of battle and safety points, however has just lately change into safer to go to.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is probably the most biologically numerous nation in Africa, and is home to greater than half of the continent’s tropical forests, according to the WWF. It is home to greater than 15,000 plant and animal species, together with greater than 3,200 species solely discovered there – together with a number of spectacular birds just like the Congolese peacock.
“This inspires hope that perhaps the species still has a reasonably healthy population in the remote forests of the region,” Dr Harvey continued. “But mining and logging as well as the clearing of forests for agriculture are making inroads deep into the forests of the Itombwe range. We are in discussions with other researchers and conservation organizations to further efforts to protect the region’s forests and the helmetshrike.
“Right now is a golden opportunity to protect these tropical forests, so that we don’t lose species like the helmetshrike before they are known and studied.”
