Lachlan Manley asked some questions about management of OBPs.
Firstly, how does the recovery team expect to achieve the recommended minimum number of 25-30 founder individuals for the captive colony when there may be only a few pairs actually breeding?
The target of 25 founders is just that, a target – there are no guarantees that it will be achieved, but the closer we get to it the better. We have already added 2 potential new founders by trapping 2 juveniles at Melaleuca in March (a bird does not become a true founder individual until it contributes to subsequent generations so we will not know for a year or two whether these birds can be counted as founders). The recovery team and our volunteers are monitoring birds on the wintering grounds right now to see if any opportunities to capture target individuals present themselves – so far we have not had much luck and no attempts to capture birds have been made. As stated in an earlier email to this group, we aim to remove one nestling from each accessible nest, and continue to look for opportunities to capture unbanded juvs away from Melaleuca, and review our progress semi-annually. And yes, it is quite likely that we won’t achieve the target.
The second question relates to making a release prior to the coming breeding season in the hope that the released birds would help wild-born young to survive. I’m not sure what assistance Lachlan had in mind, I suggest that they would be more likely to compete for limited resources with the wild birds, and there is the risk of introducing genetically inferior birds to breed with the wild population. The recovery team feels that the best strategy is to develop a sound captive population first, then look to release captive-bred birds into rehabilitated habitat at a suitable time. We have recently had constructive dialogue with Tasmanian fire managers regarding the re-institution of a more favourable burning regime in selected parts of the South-west World Heritage Area, but there are many logistical difficulties to be overcome.
Hope this helps. Further information can be found in the latest issue of ‘Trumped-up Corella’ on the Birds Australia website.
Peter Menkhorst
Chair, OBP recovery team
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