Seven endangered Palila honeycreepers released in the wild

28/10/2006 00:00:00 Seven rare Hawaiian birds were released into their native habitat on the island of Hawai'i. The birds, which were hatched and reared at the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center, are part of an effort to establish a new population of this species on the north side of Mauna Kea.

Palila are a critically endangered species of honeycreeper native to Hawaii. Like many native bird species on the Hawaiian islands, the palila has become critically endangered due to loss of habitat and the threat of introduced predators.

'At the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center we work to preserve and build a sustainable population of several Hawaiian bird species,' said Alan Lieberman, director of the Center. 'We provide an ark where these species can be maintained while conservation and forestry officials work to set up protected habitat where they can be re-released.'

Since 2003, 22 palila have been released back into the State's Puu Mali Forest Reserve on Mauna Kea. Tracking of released birds indicates that they are doing well. There has been one documented case of a captive-reared, released male breeding with a wild female that had been previously translocated by U.S. Geological Survey biologists from the west side of Mauna Kea.

Established in 1996, the Hawaiian Endangered Bird Conservation program (which includes the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center on the island of Hawaii and the Maui Bird Conservation Center) works with eight species of endangered birds native to the Hawai'ian Islands, including the 'Alala, Puaiohi, Palila, Maui Parrotbill, Hawaii 'Akepa, 'Akohekohe , Hawaii Creeper and the Nene.

The Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program is a part of the San Diego Zoo's department of Conservation and Research for Endangered Species (CRES). Operated by the not-for-profit Zoological Society of San Diego, CRES is working to establish field stations in five key ecological areas internationally and participates in conservation and research work around the globe. The Zoological Society also manages the 100-acre San Diego Zoo and the 1,800-acre San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park (more than half of which has been set aside as protected native species habitat).