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Last year WWT took emergency action and mobilised a team of experts to Madagascar, in search of one of the world’s rarest birds – in fact, one of the world’s rarest animals. The Madagascar pochard, twice feared extinct, had been spotted in a remote inland lake. With just 20 adult birds left, we had a fighting chance of saving the species from extinction, of giving it one last chance.
Our efforts have been rewarded beyond anything we could have hoped for. We collected three clutches of eggs, and now have 23 Madagascar pochards ducklings in captivity – in the space of a few months, we have doubled the population.
But we need to do so much more. The ducklings have been raised in temporary accommodation, including a hotel bathroom! Soon, they will have outgrown the space…
This Autumn we must return to Madagascar The only way to secure a future for this species is to have a flourishing wild population of Madagascar pochards spread over several wetlands in the country, so our plans include:
- building a conservation breeding facility to house our 23 existing birds and accommodate new ducklings this year
- expeditions to identify sites where our captive-bred birds can be released
- restoring degraded wetlands so they can support released pochards and other endemic wildlife
- involving, training and bringing benefits to local people who depend on the wetlands for their livelihoods.
How you can help
£186,000 is still needed to build a permanent conservation breeding centre by summer 2010. The facility will include aviaries with deep water pools and natural nesting habitats for breeding pairs of pochards, a nursery where eggs are hatched and ducklings provided with round-the-clock intensive care, and special training and diving tanks where ducklings can grow in safety while developing important life skills they will need to survive when released back into the wild.
Please send a donation now to help us establish the breeding facility and save the world’s rarest bird from extinction.