A supportive role for the Northern Bald Ibis
Thursday, 21 July 2022
Species reintroduction is the release of a species into the wild. Animals that were born in zoos are released back into the wild (usually at a young age) under the supervision of a team of biologists on location in the field. The animals are released in areas that belong to the species’ original habitat but where the animal is locally extinct or where its numbers have declined dramatically. A species reintroduction project often sounds a lot simpler than it is. In cases where reintroductions are possible and responsible, Burgers’ Zoo is more than happy to cooperate, domestically and abroad! This time: successful reintroduction projects with northern bald ibises (also known as waldrapps).
Long ago, the species distribution of the northern bald ibis (also called the waldrapp) extended from North Africa to the Middle East and much of southern Europe. Unfortunately, this area has been reduced to just two locations in Morocco. A few years ago, there was also a colony near Palmyra in Syria, but due to the recent war violence in that region, all ibises have likely disappeared from there. A very worrying development! Fortunately, there is also good news: a large population of northern bald ibises lives in European zoos, where a successful breeding programme has been linked to several reintroduction projects that are beginning to bear fruit.
Burgers’ Zoo plays a modest role in these projects by housing a group of females. The European zoo population has a surplus of female northern bald ibises, and a good temporary home was needed for females that have yet to be allocated a breeding group. If certain breeding populations get a shortage of females due to natural circumstances (birth and death versus sex ratio within the group), the birds from Burgers’ Zoo will be a welcome addition to strengthen those breeding groups. So, even though no northern bald ibises are hatching at Arnhem, we manage an important reserve population of females of a species that has recently been downgraded from critically endangered to IUCN endangered. Partly thanks to the population coming from zoos, which have been successfully introduced in various places in Morocco and Europe!
Why did the wild population of the northern bald ibis decline so drastically? Many natural habitats where the ibises found their food were turned into farmland. Pesticides used in agriculture caused many casualties among these birds, and hunting these animals also became a serious problem. Today, the bird species is better protected, and the Moroccan Bird Protection Society is very active in cooperation with other parties to protect the two remaining colonies. The number of birds is growing again as a result. The main colony in Morocco is located in the Souss-Massa region, where the animals have been subject to scientific research since 1993. The second Moroccan colony is currently also being closely monitored. In 2019, an estimated seven hundred northern bald ibises were again living in Morocco.
But as already mentioned, Europe has not stood idle either. To the west of Gibraltar, in La Janda, a small population of bald eagles has been released. The birds all hatched at European zoos and are closely monitored by Spanish conservationists. In Austria, young northern bald ibises from various European zoos are being hand-reared in Seekirchen am Wallersee and Überlingen. The young birds then learn to follow a very light aircraft, making increasingly longer flights. When they are large and experienced enough, they are released into the WWF Oasis of Orbetello nature reserve in Tuscany, Italy. Northern bald ibises are natural migratory birds, and every year around April, they instinctively fly back to their birthplace (i.e., where they were raised) in Austria in groups. So, the project works!
Burgers’ Zoo is, of course, happy to contribute to such a wonderful and hopeful reintroduction project! Europe’s cooperating zoos can play an important role in nature conservation by breeding young birds to be released and monitored in the wild.
