In order to actively respond to the call of "suspension of classes and non-stop learning", Gen Xiaoya took English online classes at home, and also brushed up CNN (asking for praise~)... Suddenly saw a news about the update of the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species, including the Guam Buzzard, in recent years, English is so environmentally friendly, maybe it is to read the material ~ Hurry up and share it with everyone!
Almost four decades after completely disappearing from the wild, a bird that had survived only in captivity now roams freely on two tropical islands.
This bird has been extinct in the wild for nearly four decades and was once only able to survive through captivity breeding and captivity. Today, they can finally roam freely on two small tropical islands.
The Guam rail's native home is a remote, 212-square-mile island in the Pacific Ocean, half way between Australia and Japan.
Originally inhabited only by Guam, a Pacific island between Australia and Japan, the Guam Buzzard covers an area of about 549 square kilometers.
Known locally as the ko'ko', the rail, which had been classified as "extinct in the wild," was promoted to "critically endangered" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) 2019 red list of threatened species. Only one bird -- the California condor -- has previously taken that crucial step back from the brink.
Known locally as the "cocoa bird," the animal was once classified as "wild extinct" but was downgraded to "critically endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2019. Before that, only one species of bird, the California vulture, had been critically saved from such a dangerous situation.
<h1>What happened to the Guam rail?</h1>
<h1>What happened to the Guam Buzzard</h1>
During World War II, the island of Guam was occupied by the Japanese military. Soon after the island was liberated by US forces in 1944, brown tree snakes appeared -- it is thought they hitched a ride there as stowaways on an American cargo ship.
During World War II, Guam was occupied by the Japanese. In 1944, shortly after the U.S. military liberated the island, traces of brown forest snakes were spotted. Presumably, they were brought to the island by a U.S. cargo ship.
For the predatory snakes, which grow up to eight feet in length, Guam was a food-filled paradise. As they feasted on the island's defenseless native animals, their population exploded, reaching peak density of 20 plus snakes per acre of jungle.
This predatory snake can be more than 240 centimeters long. For them, Guam is a food-rich paradise. They prey on the island's inflexible protozoa, growing explosively, reaching a peak density of more than twenty snakes per acre (6 acres) of jungle.
The voracious serpents wiped 10 out of 12 native forest birds off the island.
These appetizing giant snakes wiped out 10 of the island's 12 native forest birds.
The killing of birds triggered a "domino effect" says Suzanne Medina, a wildlife biologist with the Guam department of agriculture, who has worked to save the Guam rail for 21 years. Without birds to spread tree seeds, the forests thinned out.
Suzanne Medina, a biologist at the Guam Department of Agriculture who specializes in wildlife, has been fighting for 21 years to save the Guam buzzard. The demise of these birds triggered a "domino effect," she said. Without birds spreading the seeds of trees, the forest became sparse.
Meanwhile, populations of spiders -- which had previously been kept in check by birds -- surged. Medina says that she no longer hears bird song when walking in the jungle, but she always carries a stick to clear spider webs -- "otherwise you'd be covered in them."
At the same time, spiders are not preyed by birds, and their numbers have soared. Medina said she no longer heard birds calling while walking in the jungle. Instead, she always had to take a stick to clean the cobwebs. "Otherwise, your whole being will be covered in cobwebs."
The problem didn't stop there -- the snakes also slithered from trees to electrical lines, causing frequent power outages.
The problem doesn't stop there. Snakes can also climb from trees to power lines, causing frequent power outages.
The brown tree snake is native to Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Melanesia -- but not Guam.
The brown forest snake is native to Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Melanesia, but is not native to Guam.
Strategies to eradicate the snakes have included setting traps and air-bombing dead mice laced with the painkiller acetaminophen, which is deadly to snakes, but the reptiles continue to wreak havoc.
Snakes can be removed using a snake trap, or dead rats and acetaminophen (the main ingredient in paracetamol) can be tied together and then blasted into the sky with small fireworks. This drug is fatal to snakes. But the effect is still not good, and the brown forest snake is still running rampant.
Only a handful of Guam rails avoided being eaten. In 1981, conservationists captured 21 individuals -- all that they could find. They brought them into captivity and the bird was declared extinct in the wild.
Only a few Guam buzzards escaped the fate of being eaten. In 1981, animal protectionists captured 21 Guam buzzards — the full number they could find. They began to raise these buzzards in captivity. Since then, the Guam Buzzard has become extinct in the wild.
<h1>Back to the wild</h1>
<h1>Back in the wild</h1>
Eight years after the surviving rails were captured, conservationists started releasing captive-bred birds into the wild -- not on Guam, where they would likely be eaten, but on Rota, a small, snake-free island about 30 miles northeast.
Eight years after capturing these Guam buzzards, conservationists began trying to release individuals into the wild. But the original place of return was not Guam, where they would still be eaten, but instead on a small snake-free island about 50 kilometers from Guam, called Rota Island.
But these early attempts failed, says Medina. The freed birds were run over by vehicles, or were eaten by feral cats, and they tended to spread out so widely that they couldn't find each other to breed.
But these early attempts failed, Medina said. Released buzzards are either hit by vehicles or eaten by feral cats, and they are often scattered to the point where they cannot find other breeding offspring.
It was only in the late 1990s that Medina and her team "discovered the secret to captive breeding"， she says.
It wasn't until the late 1990s, she said, that Medina and her team "discovered the secret of captive breeding."
Success hinged on getting to know the birds' personalities. "We spent a lot of time with the birds -- we were basically living with them," she says.
The secret to success lies in understanding their personalities. "We spend a lot of time with these buzzards, we can even say we live with them," she says. ”
Some male birds showed no interest whatsoever in mating, even if the females were ready and willing, says Medina's colleague, Laura Duenas, who has worked on the project for nearly a decade. Some prospective mates would fight and, in the worst instances, kill each other.
Medina's colleague Laura Duenas, who has been working on the project for a decade, says some males are not interested in mating even if the females are willing to mate. Some prospective partners will fight and kill each other in the worst case scenario.
The team compiled a file on each breeding adult, noting which seemed willing to mate and which might require coaxing. They fine-tuned the process of choosing mating pairs on the basis of both genetic information and personality.
The research team will write a profile for each adult buzzard, recording their willingness to mate. For example, which individuals need to be persuaded to mate. Staff will carefully help pair Guam buzzards based on genetic information and personality characteristics.
Their efforts paid off. More chicks hatched and prospects improved. Rota is now home to 200 Guam rails and a further 60 to 80 live on Cocos Island, a tiny atoll off the southern tip of Guam, where releases have taken place since 2010. The numbers aren't huge but "we're confident this population is sustainable," says Duenas.
Their efforts paid off. As more chicks are born, the prospects for conservation become clear. There are now 200 Guam buzzards in the Rota wilderness. In addition, 60 to 80 animals live on the island of Cocos. Cocos Island is a small atoll at the southern tip of Guam where staff have been conducting repatriation activities since 2010. There's not a lot of it right now, "but we can make sure that the guam buzzard population is sustainable," Dunas said.
<h1>Spark of hope</h1>
<h1>A spark of hope</h1>
The Guam rail was one of 10 species -- eight birds and two fish -- that received a status upgrade on the IUCN's 2019 red list.
On the ICUN Red List 2019, a total of ten species were lowered, including eight species of birds and two species of fish, including the Guam Buzzard.
In a press release, the organization's acting director Grethel Aguilar said the news "offers a spark of hope in the midst of the biodiversity crisis" and proves that "nature will recover if given half a chance."
The group's acting president, Grethel Aguilar, said in a press release that the story of the Guam Buzzard "sparks hope in the crisis of biodiversity" and proves that "as long as we give nature a little chance, she will be rejuvenated." ”
The biodiversity crisis is a growing problem, though. The red list also includes more than 30,000 animals and plants that are judged to be at risk of extinction.
However, the biodiversity crisis is a growing problem. The Red List lists more than 30,000 species of animals and plants at risk of extinction.
For the Guam rail future looks relatively secure. Medina and Duenas hope to release rails on Guam in the next two years, in areas that are currently being cleared of snakes. "I would love to see the ko'ko' back in the wild on Guam," says Medina. "Most importantly, I'd like my son and all the children of Guam to be able to see them too."
The Situation of the Guam Buzzard is already relatively safe. Medina and Dunas hope to release Guam buzzards in areas where snakes are being removed in Guam over the next two years. "I'd love to see these cocoa birds return to the guam wilderness." Medina said, "Most importantly, I want my son and all the children of Guam to see them as well." ”