Madagascar pochard population set to double
The race against time to save the Madagascar pochard from extinction is well on the road to success.
WWT’s ‘Team Pochard’ in Madagascar, along with colleagues from Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and The Peregrine Fund look set to achieve the incredible - doubling the population of the Critically Endangered Madagascar pochard in just one month!
The emergency rescue mission, mounted after a reconnaissance visit in July revealed the situation was worse than feared (discovery of just six females and evidence that chicks from 2008 had died at just a few weeks old), hatched the first eight precious ducklings two weeks ago.
This week (Wednesday) a second clutch of eight more chicks hatched and were taken on the perilous journey by road to transfer them the makeshift rearing facility hurriedly set up by the team in a hotel. A ninth egg then hatched just as the team reached the safety of the hotel.
Amazingly, a third clutch of seven eggs has also been collected but, although they are not due to hatch for another week, they are also being moved now for fear that the rapidly setting in rainy season will make the road impassable until spring.
This is the start of a major project to prevent the extinction of the species. A conservation-breeding programme will, in time, reintroduce birds to wetland sites in the species’ former range, and will work with local communities to protect the remaining site.
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