It could also be an unimaginable mission, however Auckland Zoo workers are hoping they may help deliver the Fatu Hiva monarch again from the brink of extinction.
The Fatu Hiva monarch is endemic to the island in French Polynesia, about 1100km north of Tahiti and accessible solely by boat.
The small flycatcher with purplish-black feathers was as soon as frequent all through Fatu Hiva Island, however at the moment are critically endangered resulting from launched predators resembling tree-climbing rats and cats and the pretty recent emergence of avian malaria, a illness unfold by mosquitos.
There at the moment are solely about 19 left Fatu Hiva monarchs left, with solely 5 females of their prime for breeding, making the species one of many world’s rarest.
“This bird has a role in its ecosystem. If this bird disappears, the functions of that bird will disappear in the ecosystem, and that may have unknown consequences for the rest of the ecosystem,” stated Richard Gibson, Auckland Zoo’s head of animal care and conservation.
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Fatu Hiva Island in French Polynesia is about 5600km from Aotearoa.
The zoo and the Société d’Ornithologie de Polynésie/Manu SOP (Polynesian Ornithological Society) launched an emergency breeding program to assist save the chicken from extinction in July.
The program sees Manu SOP biologists monitor eggs of their nests earlier than gathering them close to the tip of their incubation interval, Gibson stated.
What is uncommon with Fatu Hiva monarchs, he added, is that they solely lay one egg at a time.
When the eggs are near hatching, Auckland Zoo chicken specialists scramble to the tiny island nation, which is just accessible by boat, to hatch – and hopefully rear – the chicks in a purpose-built facility.
Successfully reared chicks might be launched right into a predator and mosquito-proof aviary.
At Auckland Zoo, hand reared birds are fed minced child mice, which the zoo buys frozen. But “the last thing we need to do is take mice on an island that’s already got a rat problem”, Gibson stated.
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Introduced pests – resembling rats and cats – and the avian malaria illness are behind the species’s demise.
Instead, the chicks are fed non-native geckos and lizards launched to the island, that are part of the birds’ pure weight loss program.
“If you’ve committed to working with animals and wildlife and conservation, then the killing of any animal is not done lightly,” stated Auckland Zoo director Kevin Buley.
“The potential benefits of being able to save these species by killing the introduced gecko in a humane way… The potential ends justify the means.”
Since the programme started in July, about three eggs have hatched. However, the chicks died just some days later.
Thyroid points detected within the chicks could possibly be the results of inbreeding.
“None of it’s gone smoothly,” Gibson stated.
It’s unlikely the chicks died resulting from human intervention, because the birds are taken from the nests late of their incubation interval when they’re practically absolutely developed.
“We’d be very surprised if it’s anything that we’re doing wrong… Their incubation parameters are excellent and would work for any other species we’ve ever worked with.”
Benjamin Ignace/Supplied
Auckland Zoo and Société d’Ornithologie de Polynésie/Manu SOP (Polynesian Ornithological Society) are working collectively in try and rear chicks and launch them right into a predator proof aviary.
“It’s much more likely that we’ve got an inbred population of birds, some of which are elderly breeding birds now, producing low quality, possibly disadvantaged embryos/eggs.”
Each time an egg is laid, a troublesome resolution have to be made, Gibson stated. If each egg to this point has failed to supply a stay chick, ought to the following egg be left alone?
“We can leave it in the wild, and it may or may not fledge in the wild, but ultimately it won’t help save the species in the wild.
“The species is not going to survive without an increase in numbers, and the only way to increase the numbers is through intensive management.”
But it could possibly be too late.
“If I’m brutally honest, I think we might be on a hiding to nothing,” Gibson stated.
So, why put in a lot effort right into a chicken which may be past assist?
“Everything’s worth saving, I don’t need a why.”
“I care about the smallest to the largest, the most beautiful to the ugliest, they all deserve to be here.”
“It’s definitely doable, but the odds are stacked against us. We have to exploit every opportunity to try new things.”
