Kiwi Chicks Hatch in New Zealand For The First Time in More Than 150 Years
For the first time in 150 years, kiwi chicks have hatched in the wild in New Zealand. It happened in the western suburbs of the country's capital, Wellington.
This was reported by The Capital Kiwi Project, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to restoring the kiwi population.
According to the organization, activists discovered two chicks while observing adult male kiwis incubating eggs. Initially, researchers believed only one bird would hatch, but later they found another.
"Only a quarter of the 63 adult birds are being monitored, so there will likely be other chicks out there on our hills from here onwards. These two pēpē will be monitored via transmitters (along with the next 18 chicks to hatch). We will provide an update at the end of the season," the organization's statement said.
It's worth noting that the organization began working on kiwi population restoration in the wild just a year ago. At that time, ecologists released 63 birds near the outskirts of the capital, marking the first appearance of kiwis in this area in over a century.
The Department of Conservation in New Zealand initiated the "Kiwi Recovery Plan" back in 1991, as the population of these rare birds in New Zealand decreases by at least 2% annually.
Predators, including cats, dogs, and even stoats, are the main cause of kiwi mortality, with about 95% of birds dying before reaching adulthood. Such mortality rates could lead to the complete disappearance of kiwis from the wild within two generations.
In Ukraine this year, for the first time in recorded history, the birth of pink flamingos was documented. This happened in the southern part of Ukraine, in the Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park in Odesa region. According to researchers, this is the first case of exotic birds living in Ukraine from spring to autumn and breeding. A total of 192 pink flamingo chicks were born in Ukraine.
Therefore, Ukraine conducted the ringing of pink flamingos, as announced by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources. 18 chicks received "Ukrainian citizenship" in the form of individual ring-like tags on their legs or wings - yellow rings with numbers UA01-UA18. These markings will help researchers worldwide remotely monitor the birds.