birding-aus

WB sea-eagle

To: "'knightl'" <>, Birding Aus <>
Subject: WB sea-eagle
From: "Whittaker, Mark" <>
Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2004 19:28:36 +1100
G'day
The article on the po'ouli and the mention of a "necropsy" reminded me of
the story back in September about the two sea-eagles found dead in the
Parramatta River. They too were due to have a post mortem. Is anyone out
there aware of the results of that?
Regards
mark whittaker 

-----Original Message-----
From: knightl 
Sent: Thursday, 2 December 2004 7:56
To: Birding Aus
Subject: Last of the po'ouli?


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20041201.wbird1201/ 
BNStory/specialScienceandHealth

Wednesday, Dec 1, 2004

Last known bird in Hawaiian species dies

Honolulu -  One of Earth's rarest birds might have gone into extinction  
following the death of one of the last known po'ouli.

The aging male po'ouli died in captivity on Friday, the U.S. Fish and  
Wildlife Service said this week, after recently contracting avian  
malaria. The exact cause of death will not be known until tests from  
the necropsy are completed.

The remaining two po'ouli, believed to be a male and a female, have not  
been seen for nearly a year. They may also have died, moved to another  
area or have just been missed by wildlife officials.

"This species was a unique part of Earth's history," said Eric  
VanderWerf, the Fish and Wildlife Service's Hawaiian bird recovery  
co-ordinator. "We'll never have another one like it if it disappears. I  
kind of liken it in someway to the loss of the Mona Lisa or the Sistine  
Chapel. If we lost that, we could never get it back."

The rare Hawaiian honeycreeper had been kept at the Maui Bird  
Conservation Center in Olinda since it was captured for breeding on  
Sept. 9. Biologists failed to capture a mate for the aging bird, which  
was found in the Hanawi Natural Area Reserve.

The state, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Zoological Society of  
San Diego, which operates the Maui conservation centre, began a search  
this week to find the remaining two po'ouli in the remote rainforests  
of Maui.

The small, stocky, brown bird with a partial black face described as a  
bandit's mask was discovered in 1973 by a group of University of Hawaii  
students conducting research on the east slope of Haleakala volcano. It  
has its own genus and is the only Hawaiian forest bird to rely heavily  
on native tree snails for food.

Tissue samples from the dead bird were saved for cryogenic preservation  
for possible cloning in the future.

"Some day, when technology catches up with our fantasies, we may be  
able to resurrect the po'ouli because we saved these cells," Mr.  
Lieberman said.

The po'ouli's numbers have dwindled because of habitat loss and  
introduced predators such as rats, cats and mongoose. Nonnative  
diseases carried by mosquitoes have also taken a toll on the Hawaiian  
birds.

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