'Extinct' Madagascar Pochard re-discovered
27/01/2007 00:00:00
November 2006. Scientists working for The Peregrine Fund have re-discovered the Madagascar Pochard (Aythya innotata), a medium-sized diving duck that was considered extinct by many authorities until this current sighting. National Director for The Peregrine Fund’s Madagascar Project, Lily-Arison Rene de Roland, and field biologist, Thé Seing Sam, discovered the rare bird while conducting avian surveys in a remote part of northern Madagascar. They observed 9 adults and 4 young that appeared to be nearly 2 weeks of age.
The Madagascar Pochard is one of the country’s rarest and most endangered birds. The last confirmed sighting of the species was in 1991 at Lake Alaotra on the Central Plateau of Madagascar. The single male was captured and kept in Antananarivo Zoological and Botanical Gardens until its death one year later.
The decline of the Madagascar Pochard is likely to have begun in the 1940s and 1950s in connection with degradation of lake and marshland habitat by introduced plant and fish species, conversion to rice paddies, and burning. The last certain record of multiple birds (approximately 20) on Lake Alaotra is from June 1960. Little is known about the Madagascar Pochard, an extremely secretive and often solitary bird that prefers shallow and marshy habitat. Found only on Madagascar, most of the species’ behaviour and life cycle is still unknown.
The decline of the Madagascar Pochard is likely to have begun in the 1940s and 1950s in connection with degradation of lake and marshland habitat by introduced plant and fish species, conversion to rice paddies, and burning. The last certain record of multiple birds (approximately 20) on Lake Alaotra is from June 1960. Little is known about the Madagascar Pochard, an extremely secretive and often solitary bird that prefers shallow and marshy habitat. Found only on Madagascar, most of the species’ behaviour and life cycle is still unknown.
‘Discovering the Madagascar Pochard while scouting for a threatened bird of prey, the Madagascar Harrier, illustrates how conservation of charismatic raptors can benefit species that share the same ecosystem,’ said J. Peter Jenny, Acting President of The Peregrine Fund.
Conservation measures for the Madagascar Pochard underway including habitat protection and species restoration. The Peregrine Fund is collaborating with Madagascar’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests (MINENVEF) and several other conservation organizations to ensure a coordinated and effective approach is achieved.
Madagascar is one of the world’s top 10 conservation priorities. The Peregrine Fund has been working in Madagascar since 1990 to conserve species and their wetland and rainforest habitats.
Accomplishments include discovering the Madagascar Serpent Eagle and re-discovering the Madagascar Red Owl, along with helping create Madagascar’s largest rainforest reserve on Masoala Peninsula, and pioneering innovative community-based wetland conservation that has become a benchmark and popular model throughout the country.
Read more about the Peregrine Fund
Conservation measures for the Madagascar Pochard underway including habitat protection and species restoration. The Peregrine Fund is collaborating with Madagascar’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests (MINENVEF) and several other conservation organizations to ensure a coordinated and effective approach is achieved.
Madagascar is one of the world’s top 10 conservation priorities. The Peregrine Fund has been working in Madagascar since 1990 to conserve species and their wetland and rainforest habitats.
Accomplishments include discovering the Madagascar Serpent Eagle and re-discovering the Madagascar Red Owl, along with helping create Madagascar’s largest rainforest reserve on Masoala Peninsula, and pioneering innovative community-based wetland conservation that has become a benchmark and popular model throughout the country.
Read more about the Peregrine Fund
