Translocation and hand-rearing result in short-tailed albatrosses returning to breed in the Ogasawara Islands 80 years after extirpation
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Published source details
Deguchi T., Sato F., Eda M., Izumi H., Suzuki H., Suryan R.M., Lance E.W., Hasegawa H. & Ozaki K. (2017) Translocation and hand-rearing result in short-tailed albatrosses returning to breed in the Ogasawara Islands 80 years after extirpation. Animal Conservation, 20, 341-349.
Published source details Deguchi T., Sato F., Eda M., Izumi H., Suzuki H., Suryan R.M., Lance E.W., Hasegawa H. & Ozaki K. (2017) Translocation and hand-rearing result in short-tailed albatrosses returning to breed in the Ogasawara Islands 80 years after extirpation. Animal Conservation, 20, 341-349.
Summary
Translocate birds to (re-)establish populations or increase genetic variation
A before-and-after study in 2008–2016 on Mukojima and Torishima Islands, southern Japan (Deguchi et al. 2017) reported that within five years of translocating short-tailed albatross Phoebastria albatrus chicks to Mukojima, a breeding population established. Between 2008 and 2012, albatross chicks were translocated to Mukojima and hand-fed, as described in (Deguchi et al. 2014). Adult albatross visits to the translocation site in and around the breeding season increased over time, from 0 individuals/day in 2009 to 3–5 individuals/day in 2015/2016 (statistical significance not assessed). From 2011, visitors included translocated individuals: 39% of translocated individuals returned to Mukojima at least once per breeding season. The first (unsuccessful) breeding attempt occurred in 2012. By 2016, three albatross pairs had fledged three chicks on Mukojima and nearby islands. The study also reports visits to and breeding on the island from which the translocated chicks were originally taken (Torishima, 350 km away).
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