Antwerp Zoo joins efforts to return critically endangered birds to the wild in Vietnam
Antwerp Zoo is helping to reintroduce the critically endangered Vietnam pheasant to the wild. The zoo is donating two young birds and carrying out genetic research to help the survival of the species, which hasn't been seen in the wild for 25 years.
The Vietnam pheasant was discovered at the end of the 19th century. It lived in Vietnamese lowland forests along rivers, but saw its habitat largely destroyed by the Vietnam War and deforestation.
Since last year, it has been labelled as “critically endangered, possibly extinct in the wild” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, meaning there are thought to be no more than 50 birds in the wild. There are around 1,000 living in captivity.
Genetic diversity
An international breeding and reintroduction programme is now working on reintroducing the species to the forests of its homeland.
Antwerp Zoo is researching how to optimise the genetic diversity of the bird to give it the best chance of survival. The broadest possible genetic basis increases the chance of success.
Scientists have determined which birds are most suitable for breeding, and a pair born at the zoo has been selected and will soon be transferred to Vietnam.
“The ultimate goal is to establish three sustainable populations of pheasant at different locations in the forests of central Vietnam that can sustain themselves without further human help,” says Jan Dams of Antwerp Zoo.
The NGO Viet Nature has built a centre for the bird, adjacent to a nature reserve where the species once occurred. It will continue to breed specimens from participating zoos and will set up an educational project to involve the local community.
#FlandersNewsService | A Vietnam pheasant at Antwerp Zoo © PHOTO JONAS VERHULST
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