These birds are almost extinct. A radical idea could save them.

By Dino Grandoni and Matt McClain
Washington Post
September 15, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, International

As climate change and other threats destroy the habitats of living things, biologists are beginning to think of doing the once unthinkable: finding new homes for species outside their native ranges. Here in Kansas — in a beige shipping container tucked between a hay barn and a cattle pasture — one of the rarest tropical birds in the world is getting a second chance to soon fly free in the wild. It’s about as far from an island forest as one can get… With only about 130 left in captivity, siheks are extinct in the wild. Soon, these nine young kingfishers reared here at the Sedgwick County Zoo will fly free in forests. However, they are not going back to their native Guam. Instead, they are going to a completely different Pacific island — one they hope gives their feathered kind a better chance at survival.

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