Case Study Five: Staff Go Wild

Mission: To help out partners with conservation breeding and reintroduction projects for endemic Mascarene birds

Names: Wayne McLeod, Paul Morris & Amy Vercoe
Job Titles: Bird section - Team Leader, Senior Keeper & Keeper
Country: Mauritius

In Partnership with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF), Chester Zoo, through the Mascarenes Conservation Programme, is working to save the threatened endemic bird species of the Mascarenes from extinction.

Huge successes already include the Echo Parakeet and Pink Pigeon projects, which have seen numbers for each species increase from around a dozen (and almost extinct!) to 400. Zoo keepers and other staff from Chester have been heavily involved in these projects.

Three members of staff from the Bird section all visited the programme to help out with the hand-rearing and reintroduction project currently underway for the Mauritius Fody. During their visit, Paul and Amy provided valuable hand-rearing expertise. Nine chicks were successfully rescued from failed nests in the wild whilst they were in Mauritius. Hand-rearing takes a lot of time, patience and care, which keepers from the zoo are well equipped for and used to dealing with. Rescued chicks are placed in brooders and fed every two hours. Three voluntary conservationists were trained by our keepers and helped with this intensive feeding programme. One of the nine chicks was in a bad condition and required constant care for over 12 hours to help it recover. Of the nine chicks rescued, eight survived to fledgling.

Once strong enough, the successfully reared birds are reintroduced back into the wild onto selected small islands off the Mauritius coast. Ile aux Aigrettes was the first translocation site used for this project, however after successfully reaching an optimum population size, work began on a second translocation site - Round Island. As part of Wayne’s visit, he helped with this reintroduction component of the project. Release aviaries are stationed on Round Island where the birds are first taken to before eventually being released. Before Wayne’s visit, the Boa’s which live on Round Island had entered the aviary and predated three birds. Help was needed to make the aviaries predator proof to ensure that no more birds were lost in this way. Since the keepers returned, six of the chicks have successfully made the move to the island.