Vanished bird will be returned to Mexico by city experts
Published: January 9, 2006
A BREED of dove which was made extinct in the wild more than 30 years ago is set to be reintroduced with the help of bird experts at Edinburgh Zoo.
The Socorro dove is native to an island off the West coast of Mexico but has not been sighted in the wild since 1972. It is thought that only a hundred or so of these birds are left living in captivity, mainly in America and Germany.
In an attempt to save the species, five of the doves were brought to Edinburgh from Paignton zoo in Devon and Frankfurt Zoo in Germany. One more bird will be coming from Frankfurt to complete three adult pairs.
After a successful breeding programme, one pair of adult doves hatched two chicks in December and they are now on display to the public.
A spokesman from the zoo said the adult birds were doing a good job of looking after their young, with the male bird constantly guarding the female and the nest.
All of the birds, adults and chicks, are scheduled to be released back into their natural habitat in late June
Colin Oulton, Head of the Bird Section at Edinburgh Zoo, said: “We are really delighted these birds have bred successfully. This conservation breeding programme is particularly important as the species is extinct in the wild; so these chicks are extremely special.
“We hope to have at least one member of staff working out in Socorro in the pre-release aviaries as part of our commitment to active conservation - unsurprisingly, I have had a lot of volunteers.”
The unusual doves have distinctive markings. The male has a deep reddish coloured head and underparts, with black steaks around the head and a bright pink neck, while the female has a blue and pink neck.
Although they were at one time common on Socorro island, their numbers fell sharply before the birds vanished in the early 1970s.
Experts think that a rise in numbers of cats on the island may have helped with their extinction in the wild. Another factor is the loss of habitat due to felling trees for sheep grazing.
The group responsible for the reintroduction of the doves is called the Island Endemics Foundation. The US-based charity is concerned with the preservation of island species around the world because they are among the frailest creatures on the planet.
Of the 217 species or races of birds to have become extinct in the last 400 years, 200 were birds found on islands. Two thirds of today’s threatened species live on islands.
The Socorro dove project, which was started in 1988, includes a disease risk centre to prevent the spread of avian diseases, and houses for the birds when they first arrive from Europe and America to help them get established on the island.
Socorro island is part of the Revillagigedo islands, which are in the Mexican Pacific. The whole group of islands and their surrounding ocean habitat was recognised as an area to be protected in 1994, when it was declared a reserve.
In preparing Socorro Island for the return of the dove, the foundation hope to help save the entire island ecosystem, which includes unique plants and animals found nowhere else in the world.
The island is widely recognised as one of the most important conservation areas in the world.
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