Javan Crested Jay (Platylophus galericulatus galericulatus) PRIGEN CONSERVATION BREEDING ARK Summer Update By Jochen Menner June 2020 Poisoning The following “Summer Update” is written under the traumatic impression of what has happened from 19-22 June. In the early morning of the 19th the first dead Wangi-Wangi White-Eye was discovered. Looking at that isolated case, I convinced myself that it may have been a trauma related death or one caused by a pre-existing condition. The bird was bred at PCBA and had shown a few abnormalities just after hatching. To relate the death to the pre- existing causes was an obvious assumption. Soon after that, the whole situation uncovered. Another Wangi-Wangi White-Eye was found dead and nine were in critical condition. Most of them were unable to sit upright. Apart from the Wangi-Wangi Intensive care for a sick White-Eye White-Eyes, one Sumatran Mesia, and the last Javan grey-throated White-Eye were found in dire state. We immediately started a rapid assessment of the situation to figure out what could have possibly caused this massive breakdown. Since the affected birds were kept in four different units, cared for by four different keepers and were fed different food, only a very few connections could be identified. However, all of them fed on ant brood which we concluded to be the culprit. We sourced our ant brood from a local supplier and it was highly likely, that somewhere along the supply chain, the food was contaminated with some sort of poison, most likely an insecticide. 2 PCBA Summer Update, June 2020 On 19th June, we lost another two Wangi-Wangi White-Eyes and one Javan White-Eye (one of only two Javan White-Eyes which had fed the ant brood). The remaining birds in critical condition were supplied with water, fructose, minerals and vitamin B, at least every 20 minutes. As an obvious immediate step we no longer feed the birds with ant brood. Samples of the food and the deceased birds were sent to a lab in Surabaya, and as of the time of this writing we are awaiting test results. During June 20th, we lost another seven Wangi-Wangi White-Eyes, the Javan Grey-throated White-Eye, one Sumatran Mesia and one Ruby- throated Bulbul nestling. Three more Wangi-Wangi White-Eyes and one Mesia fell ill. It was especially devastating that all three White-Eyes were parents of three nestlings, which were thus no longer attended. Surprisingly all the nestlings were still in good condition. Therefore, in addition to the intensive care for the adults, we also started hand raising the nestlings. Sunday June 21st saw the death of another 2 Wangi-Wangi White-Eyes and an additional Mesia. With the death of the youngest hand raised White-Eye chick, this tragedy came to an end on June 22nd Its still hard to grasp what actually happened during these few days. Even after a good bit of contemplation and evaluation its sheer unbelievable how much achievement has been devastated in such short time. So in total we lost 15 highly threatened Wangi-Wangi White-Eyes and four other birds of three different species. While with a total of 263 birds held at the Prigernark before this event, the total number of birds lost is a relatively small percentage, but for our efforts to save the Wangi-Wangi White-Eye from extinction it is a devastating blow. As of this moment 13 Wangi-Wangi remain at the Prigenark. As hard as it is, to keep the spirit up in days like these, we will keep working with the affected species and do our best to prevent disaster like that to ever happen again. As a first step, we are now setting up our own ant-breeding facility to become more independent from external sources. 3 PCBA Summer Update, June 2020 2. Quartal 2020 Almost the entire last quartal was characterized by restrictions to prevent the spread of the novel Coronavirus. For the Taman Safari Group that meant that all parks were closed and all activities were limited as much as possible. While all other sections of Taman Safari were running on about 50% of the normal staff coverage, PCBA was able to keep working with full force. That was thanks to the support of Vogelpark Marlow, ZGAP, and Roland Wirth. With their donations, we were able to pay the full salary of all of our keepers without any reduction. Additionally, thanks to the long-term commitment of Vogelpark Marlow, we have even been able to employ our sixth keeper since 1 June, 2020. From left to right: Bagus, Jochen, Aldi, Stephan, Egy, Alvin, Andri, Seger 4 PCBA Summer Update, June 2020 Unit 5 and 6 By mid-June construction of two new songbird breeding complexes was finished. With these two aviary complexes, the total number of aviaries within the PCBA dedicated to songbirds increases to 183, eight for Javan small-toothed Palm-civets (Arctogalidia trivirgata trilineata), and five enclosures for Javan Warty Pigs (Sus verrucosus). Unit 5 consists of 13 aviaries with the dimensions of 2.5×1.5×3m on the right side and the other 13 aviaries with the dimensions of 3×1.5×3m on the left side . Unit 6 is designed in the same way, but with 18 aviaries on each side. Unit 6 (Foreground) & Unit 55 5 PCBA Summer Update, June 2020 All aviaries are connected via slide doors to give us as much flexibility as possible to work with different social requirements of our birds. All aviaries are fully covered by roof and therefore rain proof. This is an important improvement in regards to the breeding of species originating from lowland habitats. These species so far seem to have suffered under the relatively cool rains during the rainy season. Each aviary is equipped with a strip of transparent roof to create a bright, naturally lit environment for birds and plants. Priority species for this two new complexes will be Javan White-eye (Zosterops flavus), Wangi-Wangi White-eye (Zosterops sp. nov.), and Maratua Shama (Kittacincla (malabarica) barbouri). Apart from that, we will keep Leafbird (Chloropsis sp.) pairs and other bird species that we have not bred sufficiently yet. Inside Unit 5 6 PCBA Summer Update, June 2020 Hill Myna Complex By end of June, we were able to start the construction of a breeding complex, specifically designed for Hill Mynas. This project is made possible thanks to the “Zootier des Jahres” (species of the year) campaign. This campaign is mostly run by German and German speaking zoos. Tenggara Hill Myna This years focal species of the campaign are Hill Mynas, and PCBA is a preselected project. Apart from these funds, we received a donation from Zoo Dresden, which enabled us to have the project started. The Hill Myna complex will comprise of 16 aviaries. Each will be 4.5m long, 2m wide and 4m high. The facility will be situated on a small hill, overlooking PCBA. This site, so we think, will be beneficial for the breeding of Hill Mynas, since these species seem to prefer a wide view. We are going to use the new facility for the breeding of Nias Hill Myna (Gracula robusta), Tenggara Hill Myna (Gracula venerata), and Enggano Hill Myna (Gracula (religiosa) enganensis) 7 PCBA Summer Update, June 2020 Parrots After songbirds, parrots represent the second most traded group of bird species in Indonesia. Like so many other Indonesian species, many parrots are restricted to very small distribution ranges, often confined to single islands. Combined with the immense pressure of habitat destruction and the pet trade, many species and subspecies are facing immediate extinction. Unlike many other birds, parrots are being confiscated in relatively large numbers by local authorities. Any kinds of breeding project, therefore, has to work in close cooperation with the Indonesian law enforcement to build strong ex-situ populations by obtaining confiscated founders. Yellow-crested Cockatoo Recently, through a government confiscation we have received two female Yellow-crested Cockatoos (Cacatua sulphurea). This species is listed as “Critically Endangered” by IUCN, each and every single individual is, therefore, of great importance for the conservation of the species. The subspecies identity of our cockatoos has not been fully confirmed yet, but we are working with the EAZA Parrot TAG to try to solve this. 8 PCBA Summer Update, June 2020 Currently the two cockatoos are housed in Songbird aviaries, this of course is no long-term solution. In addition a pair of Yellow-crested cockatoos is held in an exhibit aviary in Taman Safari. This pair too will be moved to the PCBA once tailor made aviary complexes have been built. Likewise the confiscated flock of Red and blue Lories (Eos histrio), as mentioned in our Spring Update 2020 are waiting for this breeding complex. Therefore, we finalized the planning of a first breeding complex for some of the most threatened Indonesian parrot species. With 21 aviaries, this unit will be an important addition to the existing conservation breeding efforts. This first parrot breeding complex is made possible by generous support from Zoo Basel and the Indonesian Privateer Mr. Johannes Martin Wijaya. Again, it is amazing to see how committed different parties are in their support for PCBA! Only thanks to this continuous support, such operation in PCBA is possible Red and blue Lory 9 PCBA Summer Update, June 2020 Blackwater fish PCBA is committed to the conservation of threatened Indonesian animal species. This commitment is not limited to songbirds or any other specific group of animals, but is guided by the need of conservation breeding efforts.