A new phase for the Great Bustard Reintroduction

A new phase for the Great Bustard Reintroduction

The Great Bustard Trial Reintroduction has entered a momentous new phase. Up until this year the project has used only birds sourced from Saratov in Russia, and the UK Government restricted this to birds hatched from eggs rescued from destroyed or abandoned nests.

The difficulties in rescuing the eggs, combined with the huge distances and logistical challenges of working in Russia meant that the number of birds the project was able to import into the UK was small – often as low as six birds a year.

The Great Bustard Group received a tremendous boost last year however when Dr. Paul O’Donoghue of the University of Chester undertook a genetic comparison of European Great Bustard populations. He discovered that, contrary to the previously held belief, the Great Bustards in Spain form the closest living population of Great Bustards to the original UK population before its extinction.

The Great Bustard Group is very grateful to the museums and private collections that allowed genetic material to be removed from their specimens. Spain holds around two thirds of the world’s Great Bustard population with over 30, 000 birds, and that number is increasing.

Working with the invaluable support of local land owners and government officials in Spain, the Great Bustard Group undertook the collection of Great Bustard eggs from the Castilla la Mancha region. Having been granted the appropriate licences from the regional and national governments, a team of four GBG staff with two specially trained dogs and two staff from RSPB collected 56 Great Bustard eggs.

The eggs were exported in partnership with Madrid Zoo and transported by ferry to the UK to specialist bird park, Birdworld in Farnham, Surrey, home to the only public captive Great Bustard enclosure in Britain. Here park curator Duncan Bolton and a team of incubation experts undertook the incubation and hatching of the eggs with excellent results, achieving a hatch rate of over 82% of the viable eggs.  

The young chicks were then taken from Birdworld to the GBG Project Site in Wiltshire and reared by Great Bustard Group and RSPB staff. The young chicks need to be bill fed with a puppet and exercised as they grow. The rearing team wear dehumanisation suits to stop the chicks becoming imprinted on their human foster parents.

The project is now entering the release phase with a ‘soft release’ technique being used that gently allows the birds to find their freedom in stages. The first birds are now at the release sites. A total of 33 Great Bustards will be released this year at two secret sites in Wiltshire.

The use of Spanish birds promises to be a major step forward for the project. The previously released Russian birds have demonstrated a tendency to disperse in a South Westerly direction, often to their detriment. Studies in Russia by a German/Russian team, and by the GBG and its project partners in Russia - the Severtsov Institute of Ecology - have shown that some birds head South West to escape the worst of the Russian winter, but indicate that others do stay. It was thought that the mild UK winter would encourage the released birds to stay, but many of them dispersed, some even reaching French shores. Although many have successfully completed a return journey from France others are thought to have perished.

The Spanish Great Bustard population is the largest in the world. It is currently increasing and is largely sedentary.  

The cost of collecting the eggs and importing them to the UK was covered by the Rural Trust, whose support for the Great Bustard Group goes back to the beginning of the project when the first UK licences were being applied for.

The Great Bustard Trial Reintroduction was started in 2004 by the Great Bustard Group.

Since 2010 the Reintroduction Trial has been assisted by an EU LIFE+ grant which is coordinated by the RSPB. The LIFE+ programme covers up to 75% of eligible expenditure.

Contact:
David Waters
Director Great Bustard Group
davidwaters@greatbustard.org
Tel: 07974 785426

Mountain yellow-legged frogs reintroduced to wild

Mountain yellow-legged frogs reintroduced to wild

The endangered mountain yellow-legged frog will take a major step in its recovery this week when, for the first time, scientists reintroduce its eggs to its former habitat. This reintroduction will occur at University of California Riverside’s James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve, part of the UC Natural Reserve System, and will be done in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research and the California Department of Fish and Game.

Once common throughout much of southern California, the mountain yellow-legged frog has been decreasing in numbers since the 1970s due to what scientists call the “perfect storm” that is affecting frog populations around the globe—decreasing habitat, increasing pollution and invasive species, the spread of the deadly chytrid fungus and the effects of climate change. Today, only a small wild population of less than 200 individuals can be found in the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, and San Jacinto Mountains.

In 2006, scientists collected mountain yellow-legged frog tadpoles from the remaining wild populations in the San Jacinto Mountains and took them to the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research where, for the first time, specialists were able to establish a captive breeding program for the species. This year’s reproductive season at the Zoo has been so successful that scientists have decided to attempt a reintroduction into the wild.

There are 61 mountain yellow-legged frogs at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research. Scientists attempted to spur breeding in January by putting half of that population into a cooler that mimicked high mountain winter conditions. The chill caused the frogs to hibernate. About two weeks ago the frogs were taken out of the coolers and began displaying breeding behaviors within a few days. “Three months ago the San Diego Zoo started an experimental procedure of chilling these frogs to see how it would effect breeding. It has been wildly successful and as a result today we can reintroduce about 500 eggs into the San Jacinto Mountains,” said Jeff Lemm Research Coordinator for the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research. “This is a momentous day—the first ever reintroduction of these endangered frog eggs back into their natural habitat and the San Diego Zoo is thrilled to be a part of it”. The James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve was selected for this reintroduction because it is a protected area with ideal habitats in the species’ former range.

The mountain yellow-legged frog is one of three Southern California frog or toad species on the Federal Endangered Species List. Biologists from the USGS will be responsible for the initial phase of the reintroduction, and will be releasing egg masses into deep permanent pools, followed by the additional release of tadpoles later in the year. They will then closely monitor the health and success of the reintroduction. It will take two years for the tadpoles to morph into adults and as they are not a migratory species, the frogs will stay in the creek within the bounds of the protected reserve where they can be easily monitored. “This is an amazing first step in the recovery program for this wonderful frog, and we are looking forward to having the frogs here for a long time to come,” said Becca Fenwick, Director of the James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve.


The James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve is one of thirty-seven University of California reserves throughout the state protecting over 280,000 acres, and making them available for research, university level instruction and public outreach. http://www.jamesreserve.edu/

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

The San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research is dedicated to generating, sharing and applying scientific knowledge vital to the conservation of animals, plants and habitats worldwide.

Contact Information:
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
Office of Communication
119 National Center
Reston, VA 20192

Adam Backlin (USGS)
Phone: 714-508-4702

Dani Dodge Medlin (San Diego Zoo)
Phone: 619-685-3291

Becca Fenwick (James Reserve)
Phone: 951-827-6835

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