Good news for one of Australia’s rarest birds with a successful arrival of two new chicks at Monarto Safari Park.
The endangered Plains-wanderer birds have hatched thanks to Zoo’s SA breeding program.
Natives Keeper Gemma Asser said the tiny chicks make a big impact to conservation of the species.
“It’s estimated there are only 250 to 1,000 Plains-wanderers remaining in the wild, making each chick an important step forward in saving the species,” said Gemma Asser.
She adds that similar to Emus and Ostriches, Plains-wanderer males raise the chicks and that the first time dad, Luke, is doing a fantastic job.
“Plains-wanderers are a Precocial species, meaning the chicks can feed themselves and move around after they hatch…. When he protects them he tucks them under his wings.”
Plains-wanderers are the only surviving species of the Pedionomidae family, meaning there is no other bird like them in the world.
This is the third season of the breeding program at Monarto Safari Park, which will see the eventual reintroduction of captive-bred birds into wild populations.
The news comes on 7 February, Zoos SA’s second Reverse the Red Day, which aims to highlight the plight of threatened and extinct species and their ecosystems.