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Personal Message:
Here is the story Wendy linked to, as it appeared in the Washington Post's=
web site... Cheers,
Steve
Arlington, VA
=20
One of World's Rarest Birds May Be Extinct
=20
By JAYMES SONG
=20
=20 HONOLULU - One of Earth's rarest birds might have gone into extinction =
following the death of one of the last known po'ouli.
=20
The aging male po'ouli died in captivity Friday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlif=
e Service said Tuesday. It had recently contracted avian malaria, but the e=
xact cause of death won't be known until tests from the necropsy are comple=
ted.
=20
The remaining two po'ouli, believed to be a male and a female, haven't bee=
n seen for nearly a year. They might also have died, moved to another area =
or have just been missed by wildlife officials.
=20
"This species was a unique part of Earth's history," said Eric VanderWerf,=
the Fish and Wildlife Service's Hawaiian bird recovery coordinator. "We'll=
never have another one like it if it disappears. I kind of liken it in som=
eway to the loss of the Mona Lisa or the Sistine Chapel. If we lost that, w=
e could never get it back."
=20
The rare Hawaiian honeycreeper had been kept at the Maui Bird Conservation=
Center in Olinda since it was captured for breeding on Sept. 9. Biologists=
failed to capture a mate for the aging bird, which was found in the Hanawi=
Natural Area Reserve.
=20
The state, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Zoological Society of San=
Diego, which operates the Maui conservation center, began a search Tuesday=
to find the remaining two po'ouli in the remote rainforests of Maui.
=20
The small, stocky, brown bird with a partial black face described as a ban=
dit's mask was discovered in 1973 by a group of University of Hawaii studen=
ts conducting research on the east slope of Haleakala volcano. It is so uni=
que that is has its own genus, and is the only Hawaiian forest bird to rely=
heavily on native tree snails for food.
=20
Tissue samples from the dead bird were saved for cryogenic preservation fo=
r possible cloning in the future.
=20
"Someday, when technology catches up with our fantasies, we may be able to=
resurrect the po'ouli because we saved these cells," Lieberman said.
=20
The po'ouli's numbers have dwindled because of habitat loss and introduced=
predators like rats, cats and mongoose. Nonnative diseases carried by mosq=
uitos have also taken a toll on the Hawaiian birds.
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