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MORE NZ BIRDS LIKELY TO BE GONE BY 2020 紐西蘭鳥受脅
« on: Jun 2nd, 2005, 11:54am » |
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Wellington, June 2 - The prospects of surviving until 2020 are getting bleaker for several New Zealand bird species . Related Topics
Environment
Their status has been upgraded or changed by environmental group BirdLife International which said this week two more New Zealand bird species are now threatened with extinction.
BirdLife said at its annual meeting in Johannesburg that New Zealand's orange-fronted parakeet and the rock wren had joined a list of 1212 of the planet's bird species facing extinction as humans venture further into their habitats and introduce alien predators.
Seven other New Zealand native bird species have had their global threat status upgraded to a higher threat category.
In Wellington Forest and Bird's conservation manager Kevin Hackwell told NZPA these birds continued to decline at the rate they are now ``the only place to hear them in a few years time might be on the National Radio bird-call slot''. ``This reassessment is a disturbing reminder that New Zealand needs to do more to stem the decline of its approximately 800 threatened species,'' he said. ``Introduced pests have contributed to the decline of at least six of the nine bird species upgraded in today's reassessment.''
Chatham Island shag and orange-fronted parakeet have gone up a threat category from endangered to critically endangered.
They are now in the same league as the kakapo.
High predation during a breeding season could wipe out the orange-fronted parakeet forever, Mr Hackwell said. ``While the cause for the Chatham Island shag's decline is unclear, orange-fronted parakeets have been the victim of periodic rat and stoat plagues,'' he said. ``Predation has also contributed to the threatened status of kaka, red-fronted parakeet (kakariki), yellowhead (mohua), black-billed gull and rock wren. ``New Zealand dotterel have declined through habitat loss caused by coastal development, predation by cats and stoats, and disturbance by people, vehicles and pets.''
The parakeet has been the subject of a Conservation Department bid to build its numbers up but ``one bad year could finish them off completely,'' according to Forest and Bird spokesman Geoff Keey.
Meanwhile the mohua, upgraded from vulnerable to endangered, was sometimes disappearing from afforested valleys completely but in other instances its numbers might be recovering, he said.
Of the Chatham island shag Forest and Bird said the birds had a total of one hectare of breeding area on three islands -- ``just narrow ledges, and they're not doing well''.
Kaka are upgraded from vulnerable to endangered because their breeding areas are increasingly targeted by predators and black-billed gulls have been upgraded from vulnerable to endangered because of predator threat in their breeding grounds.
The Pitt Island shag has been upgraded from vulnerable to endangered and could be extinct by 2020.
Joining the list for the first time is the rock wren because its eggs and chicks are being taken increasingly by predators -- the wren's near relative the bush wren is now extinct because of predation.
BirdLife, a global alliance of conservation groups, said in its annual assessment of the feathered fauna that the total number of world bird species considered to be threatened with extinction was now 1212.
Habitat destruction and the introduction of alien predators are among the biggest threats to bird populations around the world.
Five species are known to have become extinct in New Zealand since 1900: The Laughing Owl (Sceloglaux albifacies) was last seen in 1914; the spectacular huia (Heteralocha acutirostris) was last recorded in 1907; the tiny bush wren (Xenicus longipes) was last seen in 1972; the South Island piopio (Turnagra tanagra) was last seen in 1955; and the North Island piopio (Turnagra capensis) was last seen in 1963.
In 2003 the New Zealand storm-petrel (Oceanites maorianus) was spectacularly rediscovered, having been considered extinct since the 19th century.
BirdLife International's revisions and the associated documentation were released on the Internet yesterday and will be incorporated into the 2005 World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of Globally Threatened Species, due for publication later this year.
NZPA WGT jh ob hl
(c) 2005 New Zealand Press Association
New Zealand Press Association
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