Prehistoric bird once thought extinct returns to New Zealand wild
Prehistoric bird once thought extinct returns to New Zealand wild
Return of takahē – large, flightless bird – to alpine slopes of the South Island marks a conservation victory in New Zealand
So few of these birds remained that their genetic diversity is a problem for reproducing the species 😕.
“inbreeding depression is a significant problem.[29] The recovery efforts are hampered especially by low fertility of the remaining birds. Genetic analyses have been employed to select captive breeding stock in an effort to preserve the maximum genetic diversity.”
This is a problem with cheetahs as well, where it's theorized that only a small group survived the last ice age, and survived thru inbreeding. Because of this, they are essentially genetic "clones" of one another with almost zero genetic variability, and they have about a 50% chance to successfully receive transplants without the need for the medication typically required to prevent rejection. Source
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Eighteen of the birds were released in the Lake Whakatipu Waimāori valley, an alpine area of New Zealand’s South Island last week, on to slopes they had not been seen roaming for about 100 years.
“Very broad and bold.” Front-on, their bodies can appear almost perfectly spherical – coupled with the blue-green plumage, they look like a model planet Earth perched atop two long, bright red legs.
The birds had been formally declared extinct in 1898, their already-reduced population devastated by the arrival of European settlers’ animal companions: stoats, cats, ferrets and rats.
As trapping efforts have expanded, rare species are being re-introduced outside sanctuary fences: last year kiwi, the national birds, were reintroduced to wild spaces on the outskirts of the city for the first time in generations.
The release on Ngāi Tahu land is an attempt to establish the country’s third wild takahē population – and close collaboration between the government and the Indigenous tribe who will host them.
O’Regan’s father was a keen conservationist, and after a South Island doctor spotted the birds in the Murchison mountains, he attended the second expedition to find them in 1949 – with his young son in tow.
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That is a very round bird.
Was it on a vacation, that it returned all of a sudden ?
It was hunted to near extinction by introduced predators and considered extinct for several decades until a handful of survivors were located in some very remote areas.
When the survivors were found, the department of conservation moved them into a breeding program on some offshore islands where they would be free from predators. Since then the population has slowly grown and predator eradication programs on the mainland have had enough success that we're now taking a calculated risk on moving some of them back to their original habitat.
This happens more often than you would expect. Many animals have been declared extinct for a long time only to return. It happened with ivory billed woodpeckers in the US
One more for the list