DOCSLIB.ORG

The Challenges Surrounding Reintroduction Biology

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Challenges Surrounding Reintroduction Biology The Challenges Surrounding Reintroduction Biology BY KATIE MORELL 22 www.aza.org | January 2016 January 2016 | www.aza.org 23 Listed as extinct in the wild by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the bird has yet to be reintroduced to its native land, so a satellite home for the species has been created on the neighboring Pacific island of Rota— the place where Newland felt his faith in reintroduction falter, if just for a minute. “On my first trip to Rota, I remember stepping off the plane and seeing a rail dead on the ground at the airport,” he said. “Someone had run over it with their car.” The process of reintroducing a species into the wild can be tricky at best. There are hundreds of factors that go into the decision—environmental, political and © Sedgwick County Zoo, Yang Zhao Yang Zoo, © Sedgwick County sociological. When it works, the results are exhilarating for the public and environmentalists. That is what happened in the 1980s when biologists were alerted to the plight of the California condor, pushed to near extinction by a pesticide called DDT. By 1982, there were only 23 condors left; five years later, a robust breeding and reintroduction program was initiated to save the species. The program worked, condors were released, DDT was outlawed and, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), as of 2008 there were t was a few years ago when Scott more condors flying in the wild than in Newland felt his heart drop to managed care. his feet. As curator of birds at This story popularized the concept the Sedgwick County Zoo in of reintroduction, but it did not publicize Wichita, Kan., he oversees the the myriad of challenges faced by AZA- care of 950 birds at the Zoo and accredited facilities and other involved serves as program leader for the parties facilitating such programs. Guam Rail Species Survival Plan® (SSP). In addition to focusing on Reviving the Guam Rail maintaining a genetically healthy One effort fraught with challenges is the and sustainable population of Guam rails reintroduction of the Guam rail, a species in Association of Zoos and Aquariums that was pushed to the brink of extinction (AZA)-accredited facilities, this program after World War II when the U.S. developed also includes reintroduction efforts for this a military base on the island and, as part endangered 7-ounce, flightless, once- of its supply efforts, sourced goods from indigenous bird. neighboring Australia and New Guinea. In 24 www.aza.org | January 2016 Releasing lake sturgeon to the water January 2016 | www.aza.org 25 © Tennessee Aquarium © Tennessee © Mitchell Magdich © Lincoln Park Zoo © Lincoln Park those shipments came several brown tree breeding program was initiated, quickly snakes, an animal foreign to Guam. proving successful. By the late 1980s, zoos The once lush and sparsely populated were running out of room to hold rails. island had never before seen a snake; Guam This is when the idea to open a site on harbored more than a dozen indigenous Rota came about with the goal of creating bird species without predators. The rail laid a self-sustaining population and eventually bright white eggs in the dirt without fear and initiating reintroduction to Guam. didn’t need to fly to sustain life, making the Fast forward nearly 30 years and brown tree snake all the more lethal. the AZA, along with UFSWS and the “These birds were basically producing a Guam Department of Agriculture, are buffet for the snake,” said Newland. still working to come up with a way to By the late 1970s, biologists noticed reintroduce the rail back in its home range. a rapid decline in the rail population. In The challenges are seemingly endless, the 1980s, the remaining Guam rails were starting with the still-omnipresent brown rounded up—just 21 of them—and a tree snake. 26 www.aza.org | January 2016 Photos © Tennessee Aquarium Tennessee Photos © “The Department of Agriculture on the U.S. government, which has built out Guam has spent millions trying to eradicate much of the island. Today, the military is it and they have traps all over the place, but cooperative with efforts to eradicate snakes they’ve estimated that there are 1,000 brown and put rails back on Guam, but as Newland tree snakes per square mile, probably around knows, that agreement could change at any 300,000 on the island,” said Newland. time. “We get what land they grant us, but In addition, dogs, cats and rats (all new any day they could come in and say we are to the island since the U.S. military presence) done and need to give up a piece of land have proven to be a problem. Even less meant for the rail,” Newland said. obvious challenges include the necessity When asked if he sees the rail back on from a preserve in Michigan and brought to for increasing education on the ground in Guam in the near future, Newland hesitates. the Zoo to be bred and reintroduced. Rota and Guam. Newland visits both islands “I turn 40 this year, and I don’t know “We selected the Allegan State Game regularly to meet with student groups and if I will see them released on Guam in my Area in Michigan as our source because talk about the importance of the rail. lifetime,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that the Karner blues were there,” he said, “Rails are great education animals our kids won’t figure it out.” adding that Ohio’s Kitty Todd Nature because they can go into the classroom with Preserve was chosen as the place to you,” he said. “We bring them and they climb %ULQJLQJ%XWWHUŴLHV%DFNWR2KLR reintroduce the species. on the desks and mess with the kids; it helps More than 7,500 miles east of Guam in In 1998, Magdich and his team brought them make a connection to the animal.” Toledo, Ohio, Mitchell Magdich has been 26 female Karner blues from Michigan down Transportation can also be difficult. working for more than 20 years to help to a greenhouse in Toledo. Within the first Regulations enforced after 11 September reintroduce the Karner blue butterfly year, more than 500 butterflies that were 2001 have made it challenging to transport back into the wild in Northwest Ohio. The released flourished in their reintroduction live animals overseas and across borders. animals once common in the upper United site. Today, the species is living and breeding As of now, the SSP transports rails to Rota States started disappearing in certain states in two locations in Northwest Ohio. The through Hawaii via a single air carrier. “We in the late 1980s, and by the early 1990s, problem? In 2012, the federal government live and die by United Airlines,” he said. Magdich, curator of education at the Toledo pulled the plug on collecting the butterfly Also impactful to the future viability Zoo, began a program through which a in Michigan because the population had of rails on Guam is the cooperation with number of Karner blues would be taken started to crash. January 2016 | www.aza.org 27 River,” said George, noting that there have been challenges, mostly related to finding consistent funding and increasing monitoring efforts. However, the sturgeon are doing well largely because of the healthy habitat in which they can now live and regulations in place making it illegal to keep sturgeon in in most of the southeastern United States. Facing Challenges with Optimism The struggle to mitigate threats to a species’ habitat is perhaps the most outwardly challenging aspect of reintroduction, as evident with the Guam rail. But as Magdich attests, most AZA reintroduction programs © Mitchell Magdich face three common trials. First, funding. Reintroduction projects “We went from tens of thousands of thanks in part to a healthy habitat. The once are incredibly costly in time and resources. Karner blues to hundreds, even tens, so they prevalent fish had gone nearly extinct in During down years, a project may lose its didn’t want us collecting any more,” he said, Tennessee and Alabama by the 1960s. funding. “It is important that you try to have adding that the decline can be attributed “Overfishing, poor water quality and large a variety of funding sources and not rely on to the effects of climate change. “The good scale habitat modification by way of dam a single one,” Magdich suggested. news is that they continue to persist in Ohio building pushed lake sturgeon to the brink of Second, personnel. These programs without any releases since 2012. I would call extinction,” said Dr. Anna George, director require a high level of expertise. “Let’s say it successful today, but it would take just one of the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation one person doesn’t bother to check the [natural] event to wipe out everything.” Institute in Chattanooga, Tenn. temperature in a greenhouse. It gets too high As a result of legislation such as the and you find out that you wiped out all of The Importance of Habitat Clean Water Act (1972) and changes to the your animals for the year. That can happen,” Creating a habitat primed for a specific way some Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) he noted. species is an integral piece of the dams were operated—such as increasing Third, changing political climates. New reintroduction puzzle. The Guam rail cannot minimum water flows to oxygenate the administrations—state or federal—can bring go home because of the presence of the water—the rivers looked primed for with them changing priorities regarding brown tree snake.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Dietary Behavior of the Mangrove Monitor Lizard (Varanus Indicus)
    DIETARY BEHAVIOR OF THE MANGROVE MONITOR LIZARD (VARANUS INDICUS) ON COCOS ISLAND, GUAM, AND STRATEGIES FOR VARANUS INDICUS ERADICATION A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI’I AT HILO IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN TROPICAL CONSERVATION BIOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE MAY 2016 By Seamus P. Ehrhard Thesis Committee: William Mautz, Chairperson Donald Price Patrick Hart Acknowledgements I would like to thank Guam’s Department of Agriculture, the Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources, and wildlife biologist, Diane Vice, for financial assistance, research materials, and for offering me additional staffing, which greatly aided my fieldwork on Guam. Additionally, I would like to thank Dr. William Mautz for his consistent help and effort, which exceeded all expectations of an advisor, and without which I surely would have not completed my research or been inspired to follow my passion of herpetology to the near ends of the earth. 2 Abstract The mangrove monitor lizard (Varanus indicus), a large invasive predator, can be found on all areas of the 38.6 ha Cocos Island at an estimated density, in October 2011, of 6 V. Indicus per hectare on the island. Plans for the release of the endangered Guam rail (Gallirallus owstoni) on Cocos Island required the culling of V. Indicus, because the lizards are known to consume birds and bird eggs. Cocos Island has 7 different habitats; resort/horticulture, Casuarina forest, mixed strand forest, Pemphis scrub, Scaevola scrub, sand/open area, and wetlands. I removed as many V. Indicus as possible from the three principal habitats; Casuarina forest, mixed scrub forest, and a garbage dump (resort/horticulture) using six different trapping methods.
    [Show full text]
  • Revised Recovery Plan for the Sihek Or Guam Micronesian Kingfisher (Halcyon Cinnamomina Cinnamomina)
    DISCLAIMER Recovery plans delineate actions which the best available science indicates are required to recover and protect listed species. Plans are published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and sometimes prepared with the assistance of recovery teams, contractors, State agencies, and others. Recovery teams serve as independent advisors to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Recovery plans are reviewed by the public and submitted to additional peer review before they are approved and adopted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Objectives will be attained and any necessary funds made available subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved, as well as the need to address other priorities. Nothing in this plan should be construed as a commitment or requirement that any Federal agency obligate or pay funds in contravention of the Anti-Deficiency Act, 31 USC 1341, or any other law or regulation. Recovery plans do not necessarily represent the views nor the official positions or approval of any individuals or agencies involved in the plan formulation, other than the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Recovery plans represent the official position of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service only after they have been signed as approved by the Regional Director or Director. Approved recovery plans are subject to modification as dictated by new findings, changes in species status, and the completion of recovery actions. Please check for updates or revisions at the website addresses provided below before using this plan. Literature citation of this document should read as follows: U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • TRANSACTIONS of the Fifty-Seventh North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference
    TRANSACTIONS of the Fifty-seventh North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference Conference theme— Crossroads of Conservation: 500 Years After Columbus Marc/, 27-Apr;V 7. 7992 Radisson Plaza Hotel Charlotte and Charlotte Convention Center Charlotte, North Carolina Edited by Richard E. McCabe i w Published by the Wildlife Management Institute, Washington, DC, 1992 Johnson, M. L. and M, S. Gaines. 1988. Demography of the western harvest mouse, Reithrodon- Managing Genetic Diversity in Captive Breeding tomys megalotis, in eastern Kansas. Oecologia 75:405-411. Kareiva, P. and M, Anderson. 1988. Spatial aspects of .species interactions'. The wedding of models and Reproduction Programs and experiments. In A. Hasting, ed., Community Ecology. Springer-Verlag. New York, NY. Lande, R. 1988. Genetics and demography in biological conservation. Science 241; 1,455-1,460. Levins, R. A. 1980. Extinction. Am. Mathematical Soc. 2:77-107... Katherine Rails and Jonathan D. Ballon Lovejoy, T. B. 1985. Forest fragmentation in the Amazon: A case study. Pages 243-252 in H. Department of Zoological Research Messel, ed., The Study of Populations. Pergamon Press, Sydney, Australia. National Zoological Park Lovejoy, T. E., J. M. Rankin, R. O. Bierregaard, K. S. Brown, L. H. Emmons, and M. E. Van Smithsonian Institution der Voort. 1984. Ecosystem decay of Amazon Forest fragments. Pages 295-325 in M. H. Washington, D.C. Nitecki, ed., Extinctions. Univ. Chicago Press. Chicago, IL. Lovejoy, T. E., R. O. Bierregaard, Jr., A. B. Rylands, J. R. Malcolm, C. E. Quintela, L. H. Harper, K. S. Brown, Jr., A. H. Powell, G. V. N. Powell, H. 0, R.
    [Show full text]
  • Guam Rail Conservation: a Milestone 30 Years in the Making by Kurt Hundgen, Director of Animal Collections
    CONSERVATION & RESEARCH UPDATES FROM THE NATIONAL AVIARY SPRING 2021 Guam Rail Conservation: A Milestone 30 Years in the Making by Kurt Hundgen, Director of Animal Collections t the end of 2019 the conservation Working together through the Guam best of all, recent sightings of unbanded world celebrated a momentous Rail Species Survival Plan® (SSP), some rails there confirm that the species has achievement:A Guam Rail, once ‘Extinct twenty zoos strategized ways to ensure the already successfully reproduced in the in the Wild,’ was elevated to ‘Critically genetic diversity and health of this small wild for the first time in almost 40 years. Endangered’ status thanks to the recent population of Guam Rails in human care. The international collaboration that successful reintroduction of the species Their goal was to increase the size of the made the success of the Guam Rail to the wild. This conservation milestone zoo population and eventually introduce reintroduction possible likely will go is more than thirty years in the making— the species onto islands near Guam that down in conservation history. Behind the hoped-for result of intensive remained free of Brown Tree Snakes. every ko’ko’ once again living in the collaboration among multiple zoos and Guam wildlife officials have slowly wild is the very successful collaboration government agencies separated by oceans returned Guam Rails to the wild on the among many organizations and hundreds and continents. It is an extremely rare small neighboring islands of Cocos and of dedicated conservationists. conservation success story, shared by Rota. Reintroduction programs are most And we hope that there will be only one other bird: the iconic successful when local governments and California Condor.
    [Show full text]
  • I OFFICE of the LEGISLATIVE SECRETARY ( the Honorable Joanne M
    CARL T.C. GUTIERREZ GOVERNOR OF GUAM I JUL 1 1 ZNfl I OFFICE OF THE LEGISLATIVE SECRETARY ( The Honorable Joanne M. S. Brown Legislative Secretary I Mina'Bente Singko na Liheslaturan Twenty-Fifth Guam Legislature Suite 200 130 Aspinal Street ~a~iltf&Guam 96910 Dear Legislative Secretary Brown: Enclosed please find Substitute Bill No. 427 (COR), "AN ACT TO REPEAL AND REENACT $1023 OF CHAPTER 10 OF TITLE 1 OF THE GUAM CODE ANNOTATED, RELATIVE TO THE DESIGNATION OF THE OFFICIAL BIRD OF GUAM, which was signed into law Public Law No. 25-155. This legislation changes the officid bird of Guam from the Totot, the Mariana Fruit Dove (Ptilinoppus roseicapilla), to the Ko'ko, the Guam Rail (Gallirallus owstoni). The idea for this change was generated by the Guam Department of Agriculture, which has been involved for a number of years in the effort to preserve and protect the Ko'ko. In fact, the Department of Agriculture had a number of village meetings to determine community feeling, and then their draft legislation was forwarded to the Legislature by the Administration. The Ko'ko has already become something of a symbol for Guam, and was used as a mascot during the South Pacific Games held here last year. I only to Guam, while the Totot is indigenous not only to Guam but also This fact, along with the concentrated local effort to preserve the Ko'ko that effort is now achieving, make it especially appropriate to have official bird of Guam. A portion of Andersen Air Force Base is set free" zone to provide undisturbed habitat to the Ko'ko, and birds and reproducing in the area The Department of Agriculture is habitat area.
    [Show full text]
  • Boiga Irregularis (Brown Tree Snakes) on Guam and Its Effect on Fauna
    Boiga irregularis (Brown Tree Snakes) on Guam and Its Effect on Fauna Alexandria Amand Introduction The island of Guam, a U. S. Territory, is located in the tropical western Pacific, nearly equidistant from Japan to the north, the Philippines to the west, and New Guinea to the South (Enbring & Ftitts 1988). The island is longer than it is wide and is divided into a diverse landscape with forests and cliffs in the north and primarily savannas and river valleys in the south (Savidge 1987). Guam is also a land of great biodiversity including small mammals, reptiles, and numerous bird species; however, snakes are not a natural part of this biodiversity. The burrowing blind snake (Rhamphotyphlops braminus), the only native snake to Guam, does not pose a threat to the fauna, yet the introduction of Boiga irregularis (brown tree snake) has threatened the island’s biodiversity. Boiga irregularis a native to Indonesia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Australia, was introduced to Guam by way of navy vessels shortly after World War II where it is an exotic and invasive species (Butler 1997). As a result of its accidental introduction and population explosion, Boiga irregularis is responsible for a loss of biodiversity through predation. Boiga irregualris has had devastating effects particularly on avifauna such as the Guam rail and Guam flycatcher, small mammals including the Mariana fruit bat, and reptiles such as geckos and skinks. This paper will outline the negative impact that Boiga irregularis has had on the biodiversity of Guam, as well as the techniques being used to control the snakes population and discuss their effectiveness.
    [Show full text]
  • DRAFT REVISED RECOVERY PLAN for the SIHEK OR GUAM MICRONESIAN KINGFISHER (Halcyon Cinnamomina Cinnamomina)
    Cover photo of #26, the last remaining wild-born Guam Micronesian kingfisher. Courtesy of the Chicago Zoological Society/Photo by Jim Schulz, used with permission. DRAFT REVISED RECOVERY PLAN FOR THE SIHEK OR GUAM MICRONESIAN KINGFISHER (Halcyon cinnamomina cinnamomina) (March 2004) Original plan approved: September 28, 1990 (Native Forest Birds of Guam and Rota of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) Region 1 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Portland, Oregon Approved: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Date: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX DISCLAIMER Recovery plans delineate actions which the best available science indicates are required to recover and protect listed species. Plans are published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and sometimes prepared with the assistance of recovery teams, contractors, State agencies, and others. Recovery teams serve as independent advisors to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Recovery plans are reviewed by the public and submitted to additional peer review before they are approved and adopted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Objectives will be attained and any necessary funds made available subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved, as well as the need to address other priorities. Nothing in this plan should be construed as a commitment or requirement that any Federal agency obligate or pay funds in contravention of the Anti-Deficiency Act, 31 USC 1341, or any other law or regulation. Recovery plans do not necessarily represent the views nor the official positions or approval of any individuals or agencies involved in the plan formulation, other than the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Species Reviewed: Ko'ko' Or Guam Rail (Gallirallus Owstoni)
    Ko’ko’ or Guam Rail (Gallirallus owstoni) 5-Year Review Summary and Evaluation U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office Honolulu, Hawaii 5-YEAR REVIEW Species reviewed: Ko’ko’ or Guam Rail (Gallirallus owstoni) TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 GENERAL INFORMATION .......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Reviewers ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Methodology used to complete the review .................................................................. 1 1.3 Background ................................................................................................................... 1 2.0 REVIEW ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................... 2 2.1 Application of the 1996 Distinct Population Segment (DPS) policy ......................... 2 2.2 Recovery Criteria .......................................................................................................... 3 2.3 Updated Information and Current Species Status .................................................... 4 2.4 Synthesis......................................................................................................................... 7 3.0 RESULTS .......................................................................................................................... 8 3.1 Recommended Classification ......................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • News Release Pacific Islands External Affairs Office
    U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service News Release Pacific Islands External Affairs Office 300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 5-311 Box 50187, Honolulu, HI 96850 Phone: 808 792-9530 Fax: 808 792-9583 For Release: January 11, 2008 PIEA-08-03 Contact: Ken Foote, 808 792 9535 or 282 9442 RO-08-05 Comments Sought on Proposed Conservation Agreement to Protect Ko'ko' on Cocos Island A draft Safe Harbor Agreement that proposes to establish a breeding population of the endangered ko'ko' or Guam rail on Cocos Island is available for a 30-day public comment period, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The draft agreement and proposed permit was published in the Federal Register on January 10. Cocos Island Resort and the Guam Department of Agriculture have applied for an enhancement of survival permit and a proposed Safe Harbor Agreement for the benefit of the ko'ko'. Implementation of the proposed agreement would provide for voluntary habitat restoration, maintenance, and activities to enhance the habitat and recovery of the Guam rail on 83.1 acres of Cocos Island partly owned by Cocos Island Resort, and the Guam Department of Parks and Recreation. “Thanks to the Cocos Island Resort and its cooperators in local and federal governments, wild ko'ko' may once again be seen on Guam,” said Patrick Leonard, field supervisor, Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office. “Voluntary cooperative conservation efforts with the private sector strengthen the efforts of government agencies and help ensure protection of valuable habitat and the recovery of endangered species.” A Safe Harbor Agreement encourages private landowners to conduct voluntary conservation activities and assures them that they will not be subjected to increased endangered species restrictions should their beneficial stewardship efforts result in increased numbers of listed species.
    [Show full text]
  • Disney's Animal Programs Forms Partnership to Preserve the Guam
    Disney’s Animal Programs Forms Partnership to Preserve the Guam Rail The Island of Guam (found at the southernmost end of the Mariana chain in the South Pacific) is home to a number of bird species that can be found nowhere else in the world. Among them is the Guam Rail (Gallirallus owstoni). This small, grouse-like, flightless brown bird, at one time inhabited the Island’s forest, woodland, scrub and grasslands. Unfortunately, wild populations haven’t been seen since 1986 and it’s believed to be extinct in the wild. Scientists believe this is primarily due to the introduction of the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis). This tree-dwelling, nocturnal reptile feeds primarily on eggs and young birds and has had a devastating impact on many of Guam’s native birds. But the Guam Rail’s future is not entirely bleak. Since 1987 captive breeding of this species has had great success, thanks to a strong partnership between the field-based Guam Rail Recovery Program, The Department of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources, US Fish and Wildlife Service and the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP) program. Through this partnership, the Guam Rail SSP has developed an exchange and release program in which captive- hatched birds from U.S. AZA institutions are returned to Guam where they continue to breed and raise offspring in a breeding facility or are released into the wild. To enhance the future of this endangered species, Walt Disney World Animal Programs veterinarians and animal care professionals have formed a unique partnership with the Guam Rail recovery team.
    [Show full text]
  • Guam Rail, Endangered Species Bulletin, January/April 2000, Vol
    The Rail Road To Recovery by M. Kelly Brock and Grant M. Beauprez The road to recovery for the Guam rail began in December 1989 when we initiated attempts to establish an experimental population of rails on Guam’s neighboring snake-free island of Rota in the Commonwealth of the Image omitted Northern Mariana Islands. Between December 1989 and August 1999, we released 267 captive-reared rails while evaluating the success of different release methods. Control of feral cats in the release area enhanced rail survival and we first documented reproduction by captive-reared rails on Rota in 1995. During the summer of 1999, at least three pairs of captive reared Guam rails successfully produced 5 nests with eggs and hatchlings. Before reintroduction of the rail to its native habitat on the island of Guam could begin, the brown tree snake had to be controlled. The Biological Re- Photographed on the island of Rota, search Division of the U.S. Geological this is a captive-reared Guam rail Survey developed snake barriers, and released into habitat similar to the small-scale perimeter trapping methods limestone forest inside Area 50 on The Guam rail (Gallirallus developed by the U.S. Department of the island of Guam. owstoni) was once a common bird on Agriculture’s Wildlife Services agency Photo © R.N. Reed the Pacific island of Guam. In the early proved highly effective in reducing and 1980’s, however, this species, along with controlling localized snake populations. seven other native forest birds, was In September 1997, the DAWR adopted extirpated from the wild due to preda- both tools for the first large-scale tion by the invasive brown tree snake operation to deplete the snake popula- (Boiga irregularis).
    [Show full text]
  • Saving Endangered Species Here and Around the World
    In the 1980s, the Micronesian kingfi sher was on The Villain the brink of extinction on the Pacifi c island of Brown tree snakes, not native Guam. The Philadelphia Zoo was a leader in a to Guam, were accidentally introduced on the island around dramatic rescue of the last individuals. Since then, World War II. Within a few the Zoo’s Beth Bahner has decades, the population had exploded. Most native birds Rescuing a Bird from Extinction led a program to breed these became extinct, but zoos arrived birds here and at other U.S.U.S. in time to rescue the kingfi sher and the Guam rail. zoos. In 2003, she made a trip to return severall kingfi shers to Guam. For now, they live (safely!)) in aviaries on the island, with the goal of full reintroduction into the wild. Beth Bahner is the Zoo’s expert on the Micronesian kingfi sher. A 27-year Zoo veteran, she coordinates the national zoo breeding program. Starting with just 29 rescued individuals, the number of kingfi shers has grown to over 100. Saving Endangered Species Here and Around the World GREENLAND Pére David’s deer California condor Right now, amphibians, and especially frogs, are the most Now Frogs ASIA endangered animal group in the world. Many species EUROPE Need Saving photo by Jesse Varner Jesse photo by have already disappeared. The Zoo’s Amphibian Conservation Biologist Dr. Carlos Martínez-Rivera is NORTH AMERICA studying critically endangered Why Do Frogs Mongolian wild horse frogs in Peru and Ecuador, and collaborating with local Need Help? scientists there to rescue Factors contributing to the Mhorr gazelle them.
    [Show full text]