By Pacific Island Times News Staff
Nine endangered Guam sihek (kingfishers) made a historic flight from their hatch location at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas to
Palmyra Atoll located 1,700 km south of Hawaii' on Aug. 28.
While on Palmyra, these nine sihek will be released to the wild, resulting in the first sihek in the wild since their extirpation from Guam in the mid-1980s.
The project began 40 years ago when the Association of Zoos and Aquariums
and the Guam Department of Agriculture rescued 28 sihek prior to their extinction in the wild.
The sihek, which once flourished throughout Guam, was decimated by the
brown tree snake, which was accidentally brought to the island following
World War II.
First listed under the Guam Endangered Species Act in 1982, the sihek was
subsequently added to the U.S. Endangered Species List in 1984. Today, sihek exist solely in captivity with 127 birds in 24 U.S. zoos and DOAG.
As habitat on Guam is not yet suitable for the return of the sihek, Palmyra will provide a temporary home. Four females and five males will spend the next few weeks in aviaries within Palmyra's forest, giving them time to
acclimatize while technicians care and monitor the birds to ensure they are
fully ready for release.
The birds will be harnessed with tiny trackers to easily monitor their activity flying around Palmyra Atoll post release.
Once the technicians are confident that the birds are ready for their new life in the wild, they will be released, making them the first wild population of sihek in almost 40 years.
"This milestone is a great proof of what we can achieve with a shared commitment, tenacity, and creativity. AZA zoos have dedicated resources and expertise to maintain the sihek population for the last 40 years. Without the efforts of the AZA and the hundreds of animal care specialists whose dedication to sihek has been steadfast, this upcoming release would not have been possible," said Scott Newland, president and CEO of Sedgwick County Zoo and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' sihek species coordinator.
"I feel their resilience reflecting our own. But their true home is Guam, just as it is ours," Yolonda Topasna, program coordinator at the DOAG Division of
Aquatic and Wildlife. "We must bring them back to Guam, for their return is vital to restoring our island's balance and thriving together."
Jay Gutierrez, DOAG DAWR chief, said returning the sihek to Guam has been the department's vision.
"The release of the sihek to Palmyra brings us one step closer to achieving this vision. With the collaborative effort and commitment of all partners, the release that was once a thought is now becoming a reality," he added.
Palmyra Atoll is predator-free and home to a nature preserve owned by The Nature Conservancy, located inside a US Fish & Wildlife Service refuge. The atoll will provide the species a safe, wild home to thrive in and establish a breeding population, with the ultimate goal of one day returning them to Guam once the threat from snakes is controlled.
Travelling 4,600 miles from Wichita, Kansas, to Palmyra Atoll, the birds were accompanied on their 14-hour journey by a wildlife vet from Sedgwick County Zoo and a bird husbandry specialist from Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute - both of whom will be caring for the birds during these final stages - along with DOAG Wildlife Supervisor Diane Vice.
These releases will be repeated annually until 20 sihek have successfully established themselves as breeding pairs to raise one day the first wild-born sihek since the 1980s.
The nine birds were all hatched and hand-raised for this release, having been bred as part of a 24-zoo collaborative breeding program operating across the U.S.
The sihek were then raised in a purpose-built biosecurity facility at Sedgwick County Zoo, receiving expert care from specialist bird keepers from seven participating AZA zoos and two zoos from the United Kingdom (UK) - all of whom worked around the clock to feed, weigh, and monitor the chicks as they grew from hatchlings weighing no more than a pencil to fully-grown birds ready for their next big step.
"This is an incredible day that the whole partnership has been working toward for years. Returning species to the wild is a long, complex process that requires careful planning and creative solutions," said Dr Caitlin Andrews, one of the conservation scientists behind the move and joint-researcher at The Nature Conservancy and Zoological Society of London's Institute of Zoology.
"We wouldn't be here without conservation zoos and the essential role they play is saving species on the brink of extinction, or the decades of restoration work that has allowed Palmyra Atoll to serve as a safe haven for sihek and other wildlife."
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