A tiny bird species is being reintroduced to the wild for the first time in 40 years, and Cincinnati Zoo is helping in the effort.Nine sihek, also known as Guam kingfisher chicks, will be released into the forest on an island in the Pacific Ocean, three of them from the Cincinnati Zoo. The birds arrived Wednesday and will spend a few weeks there in The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Palmyra Atoll preserve and research station before becoming the first sihek to be released in the wild since the 1980s.The release is part of the Sihek Recovery Program, which has been working to re-introduce the "exctinct-in-the-wild" species back into the wild for years. Officials said this is the first year that participating facilities are producing enough healthy chicks to release them into the wild.Cincinnati Zoo experts said the birds once flourished on the North Pacific Island of Guam, but due to the accidental introduction of the brown tree snake to the island in the 1940s, the population was decimated along with other native bird populations.The species was first listed under the Guam Endangered Species Act in 1982, then later added to the U.S. Endangered Species List in 1984 and officially recognized as being extinct in the wild following the last wild sighting in 1988.In the 1980s, an emergency rescue was made and a small number of sihek were put into human care.The Cincinnati Zoo received its first adult in 1982 and has produced more than 30 chicks since then.Due to the success of their breeding, the zoo was invited to be a part of the historical translocation effort that started last year.The zoo has helped its two breeding pairs produce more than 10 eggs. Three of the chicks that hatched from those eggs are among the nine that will be the first to be released to the wild as part of the program.The chicks are named Sindålu, Fuetsa and Tutuhon."This project has been so impactful to our department. It was a real team effort, internally and with participating organizations, and we’re just so proud to have been a part of it," Aimee Owen, senior aviculture keeper at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden and one of the bird team members who cared for eggs in Cincinnati, said. "The Cincinnati Zoo has been participating in efforts to ensure the survival of this iconic kingfisher species longer than I’ve been alive, and we’re beyond thrilled to be on the cusp of making conservation history."The birds were accompanied on their 14-hour journey by a wildlife vet from Sedgwick County Zoo.
CINCINNATI —
A tiny bird species is being reintroduced to the wild for the first time in 40 years, and Cincinnati Zoo is helping in the effort.
Nine sihek, also known as Guam kingfisher chicks, will be released into the forest on an island in the Pacific Ocean, three of them from the Cincinnati Zoo.
Advertisem*nt
The birds arrived Wednesday and will spend a few weeks there in The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Palmyra Atoll preserve and research station before becoming the first sihek to be released in the wild since the 1980s.
The release is part of the Sihek Recovery Program, which has been working to re-introduce the "exctinct-in-the-wild" species back into the wild for years. Officials said this is the first year that participating facilities are producing enough healthy chicks to release them into the wild.
Cincinnati Zoo experts said the birds once flourished on the North Pacific Island of Guam, but due to the accidental introduction of the brown tree snake to the island in the 1940s, the population was decimated along with other native bird populations.
The species was first listed under the Guam Endangered Species Act in 1982, then later added to the U.S. Endangered Species List in 1984 and officially recognized as being extinct in the wild following the last wild sighting in 1988.
In the 1980s, an emergency rescue was made and a small number of sihek were put into human care.
The Cincinnati Zoo received its first adult in 1982 and has produced more than 30 chicks since then.
Due to the success of their breeding, the zoo was invited to be a part of the historical translocation effort that started last year.
The zoo has helped its two breeding pairs produce more than 10 eggs. Three of the chicks that hatched from those eggs are among the nine that will be the first to be released to the wild as part of the program.
The chicks are named Sindålu, Fuetsa and Tutuhon.
"This project has been so impactful to our department. It was a real team effort, internally and with participating organizations, and we’re just so proud to have been a part of it," Aimee Owen, senior aviculture keeper at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden and one of the bird team members who cared for eggs in Cincinnati, said. "The Cincinnati Zoo has been participating in efforts to ensure the survival of this iconic kingfisher species longer than I’ve been alive, and we’re beyond thrilled to be on the cusp of making conservation history."
The birds were accompanied on their 14-hour journey by a wildlife vet from Sedgwick County Zoo.
