SummaryThe Ultramarine Lory (Ultramarine Lorikeet, Marquesas Lorikeet, Pihiti) Vini ultramarina is one of the most threatened insular Lory species. Endemic to the Marquesas Islands, where it probably once ranged throughout the archipelago, it has been nearly extirpated from all but the tiny island of Ua Huka. Given the vulnerability of a single population inhabiting one small island, and the decline of the species in recent years, establishment of the Ultramarine Lory on another less disturbed island within its historic range has been proposed as a conservation strategy. This paper describes a 1991 survey evaluating the status of the Ultramarine Lory in the Marquesas Islands, and three subsequent translocations of birds from the island of Ua Huka to the island of Fatu Hiva. Twenty-nine birds were relocated during the period from 1992 to 1994 at the request of the Delegation de L'Environnement, French Polynesia. A preliminary survey, prior to the third translocation, indicates that previously transferred birds are surviving and may be reproducing; an intensive survey is planned in 1997.
The wild alala Corvus hawaiiensis population has been declining for many years and only three pairs of birds are currently reproductively active on the island of Hawaii. At the recommendation of a committee formed by the National Academy of Sciences, a restoration programme was initiated in 1993 by The Peregrine Fund in collaboration with private land-owners, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Biological Service and the State of Hawaii. The restoration programme includes removing eggs from wild nesting birds for artificial incubation, handrearing and reintroduction. In two breeding seasons (1993, 1994), 17 eggs were removed from alala nests in the wild. Three eggs were infertile, 13 chicks hatched and 12 alala were successfully reared (hatchability: 93 per cent; survivability: 92 per cent). Four of these chicks were sent to the State of Hawaii's Olinda Endangered Species Propagation Facility, while four chicks from this facility were sent to the reintroduction programme. Twelve alala have been released by The Peregrine Fund: five in 1993 and seven in 1994. Three of the five birds released in 1993 and all seven of the birds released in 1994 are currently surviving in the wild.
In 1991 a survey was conducted in the Marquesas Islands to determine the current range and population size of the Ultramarine Lory Vini ultramarina. A total of 313 birds were counted, restricted to one island, Ua Huka. A translocation program was initiated to capture and relocate birds to a less disturbed island. Fatu Hiva, an island within the historical range of the species, was chosen to establish a second population. This island still supports suitable habitat and does not have a resident population of Rattus rattus, which may have contributed to the decline of the species on Nuka Hiva and Ua Pou. Increased agriculture, grazing herbivores, bees, and banana plant disease may have also contributed to the decline.
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