The road to recovery: conservation management for the Critically Endangered Bali myna shows signs of success

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 04:24:04 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/road-to-recovery-conservation-management-for-the-critically-endangered-bali-myna-shows-signs-of-success/F804B2368C5BFADFC697D48194001458#>

"The Bali myna Leucopsar rothschildi has long suffered heavy trapping,
leading to its near extinction in the wild and categorization as Critically
Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Decades of conservation breeding, release of
birds and post-release management at Bali Barat National Park have, until
recently, failed to secure a viable wild population. However, over the past
decade, population increases, expansion into new areas of the National Park and
beyond, and successful breeding in both artificial and natural nest sites have
occurred. These recent successes are associated with a change in approach by
the National Park authority from concentrating efforts on the last refugium of
the species (an area protected from trapping but with potentially suboptimal
habitat) and towards the human-dominated landscapes around the main road
through the National Park. Bali mynas tended to favour areas with extensive
shorter grass cover and open canopies and to shun denser woodland.
Anthropogenic landscapes such as farmland and plantations presumably mimic the
original savannah habitat of the species, but nestbox provision has probably
been crucial in these areas in the absence of natural cavities. A potential
further factor in the increases in myna numbers and range has been a scheme
involving local people in commercial breeding of the species, thereby reducing
its market price, and working with communities to reduce trapping pressure. We
encourage continuing operation of this management strategy inside the National
Park and its further extension into adjacent tourist areas, which appear to
have myna-friendly socio-ecological conditions."

Via Future Crunch:
<https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-child-nutrition-human-rights-bhutan-ocean-png/>

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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