Abstract
Recent successes in field management
of the Echo Parakeet are giving
hope for the future of this highly
endangered bird. The world's rarest
parrot struggles to survive in the
severely degraded forests on Mauritius,
a tropical island in the Indian
Ocean. The Echo Parakeet is confined
to a small patch of endemic forest
encroached upon by introduced
plants which are unsuitable for feeding
or nesting. Less than a dozen birds
still exist in the wild. The World Parrot
Trust, an environmental conservation
charity based in Cornwall, U.K., is participating
in a dual scheme to provide
conservation management to the wild
birds, while attempting to breed additional
Echos in captivity for eventual
reintroduction to the forest. In addition
to funds, the Trust has supplied a
four-wheeled-drive jeep to facilitate
transport of equipment to remote
areas of the forest. Much of the field
work and management is coordinated
by Welshman Carl Jones, who has
been responsible for the project since
he launched the rescue package in
1973.
Mauritius is 1,865 sq. km. and has a
population of over a million people.
When it was first discovered in the late
16th century, ebony forests and palm
savannahs covered the island. There
were giant tortoises, fruit bats and
many reptiles. There were between 30
to 40 unique species of bird including
six species of parrot. The most famous
bird of all was the dodo.
By 1972, large areas had been
cleared for tea plantations and others
for pine and softwood. A survey in
1976 found only 11 species of bird
and only one parrot species, the Echo
Parakeet. The island is now well
developed and little remains of the
native forest. The only sizable remnant
left is to be found in and around
the Black River Gorges, where the
parakeets live. The parakeets have a
range of about 60 sq. km. but most of
their time is spent in an area less
than half this size centered on the
Macchabe Forest.
In the early 1970s, there were about
50 Echo Parakeets, but following forest
destruction in the mid '70s, their
numbers fell alarmingly, until by 1981
only ten birds were sighted.
Carl Jones and his fellow field workers
began to see results from their
research and breeding attempts
towards 1987. By 1990, they had
reared seven birds in captivity from
harvested eggs and chicks, and
observed nine new birds amongst the
wild population of some 20 birds.
Unfortunately, over two thirds of the
birds are male and the cause of this
imbalance is still unknown. Spare
males frequently fly in association
with established pairs of Echo Parakeets.
Eggs are usually laid between October
and December; two or three to a
clutch. Carl Jones and his team do not
want to upset the natural breeding of
the wild birds, so eggs or young are
only harvested from nests where the
birds have laid early in the season and
are likely to raise a second brood later
in the year.
Field studies show that plants on
which Echos feed are so scarce that
these green parakeets are exhausting
themselves foraging, leaving little
energy for breeding. Months of supplemental
feeding trials in the wild
have finally met with success. The
Echos can now feast on a selection of
readily available fruits and chiles suspended
in wire feeding baskets which
are especially designed to suit hungry
parakeets but dissuade rats, monkeys
and other bird species.
The Echos have great difficulty competing
with other species in their hunt
for suitable nesting holes, and their
eggs are often stolen by rats. After
much experimentation, Carl and his
team have recently perfected artificial
nest log cavities which are acceptable
to the Echos when positioned, with
some difficulty and precision, on cliff
faces and in tall trees. Parts of the
forest are also being cleared of intrusive
exotic weeds and parakeets are
showing a marked preference for
colonizing these areas.
After consultation with the Jersey
Wildlife Preservation Trust, the Mauritian
government plans to designate
the forest in which the Echos dwell as
the island's first national park. Its primary
purpose will be conservation.
However, the World Parrot Tmst anticipates
that support for "hands on"
conservation of the Echo Parakeet will
be required for many years.
At present there are four healthy
Echos in the aviaries, aged six to nine
months and developing well but as
yet unsexed. Future plans include the
research and creation of a new diet for
the Echos, which could produce a real
long-term benefit to the project and
may also help other species of parrot.
The New York Zoological Society and
the World Parrot Tmst are starting the
necessary analysis and development
of the new food.
Anyone who wants to support this
Echo Parakeet rescue plan is asked to
send a donation or £15.00 for a membership
pack to the World Parrot Tust,
6G, Glanmor House, Hayle, Cornwall,
U.K.
Further information and photographs
available from: Judith Venning,
David Woolcock or Mary Talbot
Rosevear, The World Parrot Trust,
Glanmor House, Hayle, Cornwall
TR27 4HY, U.K. Phone: 0736 753365,
Fax: 0736 756438. •