Kingfishers are beautiful birds that you can find in different countries and climates. However, a species that celebrates its return to nature has disappeared from Micronesia. How is it possible?
Mikroné kingfish used to be seen only in the zoo
We are constantly learning about what horrors we have done on nature. That is also why it is definitely important to point out when one finally contributes to the return of extinct species.
Kingfisher, as the name suggests, belongs to the family of the kingfisher and is therefore related to our Czech kingfisher. The birds of this family are widespread around the world, in different sizes and colorful equivalent you will find a small agile bird that hunts fish even in countries where you would expect little.
But let’s go back to a species that you wouldn’t find in the wild. The micronéský kingfisher is extinct in nature. It is a special category designed for species that are kept in captivity, but in the wild they do not occur. Last time it was seen in 1986. This kingfisher comes from Guam, which is the southernmost island of the Mariana archipelago located in the northwest part of the Pacific Ocean. Geographically, Guam belongs to Micronesia, politically to the United States.
The microné kingfisher and the project to save it will also be presented by this post from the YouTube channel Smithsonian Channel.
Source: YouTube
Rescue kingfisher from Guam
Subsequently, the Kingfish was declared extinct in the wild. This species was decimated by invasive snakes who got on Guam. Fortunately, a small population of about 130 individuals lives in various zoos today, and that is why it was possible to start a rescue program.
Experts from the Zoological Society of London and The Nature Conservance decided to release 4 females and 5 male microné kingfish in the Palmyra Atoll last year. Very soon it turned out that birds behave naturally in the open nature, but only one couple decided to nest.
This is a huge success, because the female of this kingfisher has brought eggs into the nest outside of captivity after 40 years. Although this is the first successful step to return the microné kingfish to the wild, it seems that this is really possible.
Other achievements in nature conservation
Do you find it too small a drop in the ocean bad news? Certainly it is not. This is not the only similar achievement. In 2015, the green -winged Ara returned to Iberá National Park in Argentina. The breeding of pups was successful in the wild in 2020, when the female raised her own chicks for the first time after 150 years. There are currently 15 specimens of this kind in the wild.
This year, 42 individuals of indigo pythons were released into the Florida Nature Reserve. This species is the longest original snake in the United States and plays a key role in the ecosystem as a non -pointed top predator. Nature conservationists in Indonesia managed to increase the population of endangered Indian rhinos to 47 individuals. It is primarily a fight with poachers.
In Kenya, black rhinos were also returned to the TSAVO nature reserve, where it is assumed that it is possible to reverse the extinction of this critically endangered species. After 51 years, the fox was also returned to the wild in Montana, USA.
Experts and conservationists are also trying to stabilize and increase the number of tigers in Nepal or African elephants in Botswana.
There is also a project to rescue the white north rhino by assisted reproduction. This project is the last hope of saving this subspecies, which has also been extinct in the wild.
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