FEATURE
that. Until whatever it was was corrected, how cruel would it be to release some domestic Gouldians into a lingering death? The long term commitment to the programme, the Captive Bird Research facility and the quality of our scientists has produced ground breaking results with over 30 published papers which have been recognised with a number of scientific awards.
However, without the avicultural know how of how to keep and breed Gouldians, this programme could not have been successful – and this is how I believe aviculture can best contribute to conservation.
By providing scientists with captive bird research facilities, hand in hand with the avicultural knowledge, a number of other species may be saved from extinction. It would be very satisfying if aviculture was viewed as a net contributor to conservation. Perhaps this could be achieved if every avicultural society in the world approached their local university with a view to assisting and providing facilities for research programmes. Your approach might be met with a degree of scepticism initially,
and in that context you are welcome to use the STGF as a reference point if you wish. We are happy to provide any practical support we can. I have got to warn you though that an endangered species is probably going to be hard to breed in captivity. Almost for sure it is endangered because it has speciality requirements and cannot or will not adapt to changed circumstances in its natural habitat. So I would recommend you do your homework first! This breeding facility would in effect be the same the zoos provide, but there are not enough zoos with enough space to accommodate all the species requiring help. Furthermore, the zoos are better equipped and more likely to concentrate on the larger species which also provide a better public display, whereas private aviculturists largely tend to specialise in the smaller bird species. The research on the Gouldian Finch’s basic lifestyle is ongoing. We particularly need to know why so many juveniles are lost during the wet season and what the dynamics of the dry season nomadic phase are. By reading Dr Sarah Pryke’s papers, you will realise that the Gouldian has problems at each stage of its life cycle, all of which no doubt have compounded to exert downward
The research on the Gouldian Finch’s basic lifestyle is ongoing. We particularly need to know why so many juveniles are lost during the wet season and what the dynamics of the dry season nomadic phase are. By reading Dr Sarah Pryke’s papers, you will realise that the Gouldian has problems at each stage of its life cycle, all of which no doubt have compounded to exert downward pressure on numbers. However, the most significant problem has been man’s interference with habitat.
BIRD SCENE 41
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