World's Rarest Bird, Madagascar Pochard, Gets New Home (bbc.com)

The rarest bird in the world -- a species of duck called the Madagascar pochard -- has been given a new home in time for the new year. From a report: An international team of researchers released 21 of the birds at a lake in the north of Madagascar. It is a step towards the recovery of a species that just over a decade ago was thought to be extinct. Rescuing the species could also be a first step in protecting Madagascar's threatened wetlands. When it wasn't seen for 15 years, the Madagascar pochard was believed to have been wiped out completely. Then a tiny group of the birds was rediscovered in 2006 at one remote lake. These were the last 25 Madagascar pochards on the planet. Wetland habitats in the country have been so polluted and damaged that these few remaining birds had been forced into this last untouched area.

Comments

Sadly, duck soup will soon be on the menu

[fredrated]

and then that will be that.

Re:Sadly, duck soup will soon be on the menu

[alvinrod]

If this bird were tasty, people would probably cultivate it and take care of it. Cows and chickens are scarcely in any danger of going extinct after all. Animals that are useful to humans in some way tend to thrive.

Re:Sadly, duck soup will soon be on the menu

[Anonymous Coward]

Bullshit. Human selection doesn't favor the entire population diversity, it selects a specific trait and everything else goes by the wayside. Purebreds suffer for our selection. There's nothing "taken care of" about it.
   

Re:Sadly, duck soup will soon be on the menu

[Anonymous Coward]

Is that what happened to the Dodo and Carrier Pigeons?

And I'm thinking that Black Rhinos haven't been hunted to the brink for how they taste; I don't actually have a clue how they taste, but I suspect it may not be very good.

Re:Sadly, duck soup will soon be on the menu

[Anonymous Coward]

The dodo and passenger pigeon were indeed used for food, although extinction is usually not tied to one cause. Hunting isn't inherently bad except insofar as it exceeds the rate the population can replenish. Combined with other factors like amount of predators/food sources and habitat, hunting can be synergistic in leading to extinction while not being "the reason". That doesn't make it sane to defend, it just means that cause and effect are rarely singular events.

Rhinos are obviously not hunted for food per se, but the point was more that "usage implies cultivation" is an invalid argument. Market prices have no awareness of what a critical limit for survival of a species is, both in population and necessary habitat. There's a lot of unknowns with regards to the interactions of wild animals and what's an acceptable rate of culling.

Re:Sadly, duck soup will soon be on the menu

[Anonymous Coward]

only if they let Americans in - BUILD THE WALL NOW,

Re: Sadly, duck soup will soon be on the menu

[Anonymous Coward]

The wall will get built. It is a matter of when not if

Re: Sadly, duck soup will soon be on the menu

[Anonymous Coward]

No, the only question is how large the tunnel network underneath the wall will be before they lay the first stone.

Re:Sadly, duck soup will soon be on the menu

[dunkelfalke]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...

Re:Sadly, duck soup will soon be on the menu

[Anonymous Coward]

While the Dodo was eaten (though supposedly not a particularly pleasant taste) the reason for their extinction was not people eating them, it was the dogs, pigs and rats that were brought to the island, these all feasted on the Dodo eggs which led to their downfall.

Re:Sadly, duck soup will soon be on the menu

[Anonymous Coward]

Same reason Cdreimer left /. after 20 years and posted 100+ videos in 2018. His trolls are still butthurt that he left them alone with APK.

The thing to do for him: post more videos :)

At what cost?

[Anonymous Coward]

The viability of a population (species) depends both on their environment and their inherent biology (i.e. reproduction and genetics). In general, 50 is far below the 'viable' level and attempting to rescue such a species is unlikely to succeed. So, how much was/will be spent on this (most likely futile) attempt? Assuming those funds could be spent in other rescues, is this a locally optimal use? Well, as long as it's not my money, I wish them luck.

Re:At what cost?

[ShanghaiBill]

50 is far below the 'viable' level and attempting to rescue such a species is unlikely to succeed.

This was true before DNA splicing was developed, but not anymore. A flock of 25 may lack sufficient genetic diversity, but we can splice in more variety by sequencing feathers in museum collections, or even from related species.

Re: At what cost?

[Joce640k]

You got to be shitting me. Your president wants to spend 2 billion to build a god damn wall like we live in east germany, and you have the gall to say "at least it isn't my money".

(snork)

Only 2 billion?

Don't forget the trillions spent on the F35, etc. Those things are totally necessary for the future of the USA. Despite drones.

Oh wait, according to Wikipedia one of those things actually managed to fly a complete mission in September! Go, USA!!

(No word on what happened since then, I guess the one working F35 needed some work afterwards...)

Re: At what cost?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, as long as it isn't my money. xD

- EU citizen

Re: If you can.

[Anonymous Coward]

Release the hounds, Smithers

Get it in a zoo

[Anonymous Coward]

Breed them, get them in zoos. Don't put them at some lake to die.

Re: Get it in a zoo

[Anonymous Coward]

The idea is to get them re-established but by 2080 the population will surpass that of Japan and thing how much free space is available in Japan https://qz.com/626963/these-are-the-20-countries-about-to-grow-bigger-than-a-shrinking-japan/

last?

[ChoGGi]

These were the last 25 Madagascar pochards on the planet.

Last known maybe, whose to say there weren't more flocks?

Re:last?

[93 Escort Wagon]

Yup. If they thought they were extinct, then found a flock... it can be reasonably assumed there aren’t a lot of them left. But the fact that one flock escaped detection for 15 years does leave open the possibility that at least one other flock might also exist.

Re:last?

[Cmdln Daco]

"Escaping attention" is pretty important.

*WE* did it

[Anonymous Coward]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascan_pochard

So, just a musing thought, with declining species like this, it'd be nice to set up a proper setup to get their numbers up (something like an open-air zoo, but where you can "assist" the nests/chicks.

Once they get their numbers up, it seems like it would be a decent idea to take a small part of the population and either:
1) domesticate if possible, as with Australian or tropical birds (depending on needs and temperament)
2) create a free range habitat on another continent where it could fit into the ecosystem and at least get them used to humans as much starlings or chickadees are used to us.

That, and don't let them mess with putting up signs about Rabbits. That's just asking for trouble.

World's Rarest Bird?

[ChrisMaple]

How about the ivory-billed woodpecker?

Ducks to save the wetlands

[Daralantan]

I wonder what impact they would have on the ecosystem to improve its situation? I'm not questioning or criticizing this, I'm just wondering what role they would serve. I recall seeing a video a while back about introducing foxes, deer, or whatever into some forest and the massive impact and improvement they had. Then again new creatures can also have a massive negative impact. It's interesting to see what one little species ends up doing.