Zoo experts hatch one of the world’s rarest birds to help save them

By Adam Dutton via SWNS

Conservationists have managed to hatch one of the rarest birds on the planet - bringing fresh hope the critically endangered species can be saved from extinction.

The blue-eyed ground dove chick has become only the third of its kind to ever be raised in human care and only 15 individuals are believed to remain in the wild.

An international team of British, Brazilian and American conservationists successfully hand-reared the bird in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.

The team, including bird experts from Chester Zoo, carefully incubated an egg taken from the wild and painstakingly fed the chick by hand when it hatched.

They say its arrival could provide a new lifeline for the ultra-rare species by boosting the 'insurance population' aiming to safeguard against the risk of extinction.

Andrew Owen, head of birds at Chester Zoo, said: “The blue-eyed ground-dove is one of the rarest animals on the planet and it’s a real privilege for Chester Zoo to be involved in the efforts to recover a species as rare and as precious as this.

"The fact is, we’ve got to do something, otherwise it’ll be a case of sitting by and watching these beautiful birds go extinct.

"We refuse to let that happen without a fight.

“Saving a species from extinction takes real passion, dedication and a collaborative approach, and the partnership of conservationists focused on saving this diminutive little dove has an abundance of these elements.

"For our part, we first got involved six years ago when invited to lend our technical expertise to help develop a recovery plan for these critically endangered birds.

"Now, it’s about putting that plan into action and incubating, hatching and hand-rearing chicks to try to establish an insurance population in human care.

"The ultimate goal is for that insurance population to produce birds that will be returned to the wild.

“We have many skilled staff at the zoo who, working closely with delicate bird species on a daily basis, have perfected the intricate art of hand-rearing.

"Those skills have been used in Brazil where we’re pleased to say a chick has been successfully hatched and nurtured.

"It may only be one chick but, when it represents more than 5 percent of the entire global population, it’s a significant step forward for the species.”

The blue-eyed ground dove was a species shrouded in mystery, with no confirmed records for more than 70 years, until it was rediscovered in 2015.

It is found in the Cerrado biome of Brazil, a diverse savanna ecosystem that experts say is being decimated by the expansion of cattle pasture and crops.

With a wild population of only around 15, the species is at serious risk of extinction and is listed as critically endangered on the global red list — the highest level of threat.

Since its discovery, conservation organization SAVE Brasil, together with regional authorities, has established a reserve and a state park in the country.

However, they say the species remains vulnerable to threats including fires made more intense because of climate change.

Environmentalists from Chester Zoo, SAVE Brasil, Parque das Aves, Instituto Claravis, Toledo Zoo and Bronx Zoo have been working in collaboration to try and save the species.

Last year, in a world first, the team hand-reared two blue-eyed ground doves - a brother and sister.

This year, two eggs were taken from the nest of a second pair, under license from the Brazilian Agency for Biodiversity Conservation.

One contained a stillborn embryo but the other egg was fertile and a healthy chick hatched from it in early February following a 15-day incubation period.

Using techniques refined with other species of doves, the team fed the chick a diet that mimics the crop milk regurgitated by adult doves for their young.

The chick grew quickly and will join the other two as the nucleus of an insurance population — a population in human care to safeguard against the risk of extinction.

As the population is so small, only a few eggs can be taken each year, but the team hopes to repeat their success in establishing breeding pairs in secure aviaries.

It is then hoped they can produce further chicks which can be used to reinforce the wild population and reduce its risk of extinction.