New Zealand: A Race Against Time to Save the World’s Largest Parrot from Extinction

Avian flu is raising concern in New Zealand

Aviary flu has been worried for many years. It must be said that this disease, a viral infection, does many damage in poultry (chickens, ducks, turkeys), but also birds. Because the avian flu is transmitted from individual to individual, the disease may be found on a territory at the time of strong migratory waves.

But this little bird, which took refuge in the burrow of a green Kakapo, a kind of parrot, was carrying the H5 virus of the avian flu, a deadly agent, who has already led to the death of tens of millions of wild birds around the world. It was following the arrival of this “foreigner” that the authorities alerted to the spread of avian influenza in the population of parrots, which are already in critical danger of extinction.

Avian flu condemns this kind of parrots to extinction even more

The green kakapo, Habroptilus strigops In Latin, is the largest parrot in the world. Unable to fly, he lives in New Zealand and has been declared a critical danger of extinction for many years, although the number of individuals has gone from 50 in the 1990s to just under 250 today.

The alarming situation of the green Kakapo can be explained by several different factors, starting with their very slow reproduction. Indeed, these parrots reproduce only every 2 to 4 years. After The Guardianthe fact that they nest exclusively on the ground, and that they have a fairly strong smell, makes them more vulnerable to different predators (cats, rats, ferrets, hermines, dogs …).

But now that with the arrival of avian flu in New Zealand, a new threat increases the risk of extinction of green Kakapo. To avoid such a scenario, New Zealand environment defenders begin a vaccination campaign against this viral disease. But time is running out, since the spring migration season is fast approaching.

An unprecedented wave of vaccination to counter avian flu

If Oceania has so far been one of the regions of the world the least impacted by avian flu, the threat still exists, and even more in New Zealand which houses nearly 100 species of birds unique in the world.

A vaccination program was therefore implemented after the New Zealand Ministry of Conservation announced the end of a unique research study worldwide, demonstrating that it is possible to successfully and secure some of its most threatened bird species.

This program, using the H5N3 avian vaccine, is the first to vaccinate so many species simultaneously, specifies The Guardian. The vaccine was effective since researchers observed that four species, among the five species in critical danger of vaccinated extinction at the moment, have developed a solid immune response.

“” Vaccination, could protect the main reproductive populations in the volters used for the repopulation of wild populations in a situation of precarious survival, as well as the populations of Kākāpo managed on the islands offshore ”explained Kate Mcinnes, veterinarian specializing in wildlife and the main scientific advisor of the ministry. An initiative that many other countries would like to follow, including Australia, specifies the English -speaking media.

Source: The Guardian