{"id":411155,"date":"2024-07-15T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=411155"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"ga-population-increasing-through-rear-and-release-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/ga-population-increasing-through-rear-and-release-program\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00c5ga population increasing through rear-and-release program"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00c5ga enthusiasts can rejoice as the species reached an important milestone recently. The Mariana crow (corvus kubaryi<\/em>), known in Chamorro as \u201c\u00e5ga,\u201d has been listed as an endangered species in the Marianas since 1984.<\/p>\n

Though once plentiful, the introduction of the brown tree snake to Guam in the 1940s led to their decline and listing, with the population on Luta being the last remaining of what had been a thriving species. The good news: in June this year, 23 hand-reared \u00e5ga were released back into the jungles of Luta, marking the sixth \u00c5ga release on the island. Home to the last population of this critically endangered species, the only crow in Micronesia has declined on Luta since the 1980s, prompting the CNMI Department of Lands and Natural Resources and partners to take action.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u00e5ga are unique among birds,\u201d explained Dr. Sarah Faegre, the lead biologist for the University of Washington\u2019s Mariana Crow Recovery Project. \u201cThey are extremely intelligent, good problem solvers, and highly adaptable. They are the only crow that knows how to peck open hermit crab shells and they also eat a variety of pests like paper wasp larva, centipedes, and have even been observed eating rats and pulling out the tongue of a cane toad. They can live for up to 25 years and have strong ties with family members.\u201d<\/p>\n

To date, 85 \u00e5ga have been released to the wild through a captive-rear-and-release program carried out on Luta by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, in partnership with the University of Washington, funded by CNMI-DLNR and USFWS. \u201cSeventy-two percent of the \u00e5ga we have released are still alive and thriving,\u201d said Faegre.<\/p>\n

The rear-and-release program is also made possible with the collaboration of many Indigenous landowners who allow biologists to survey their lands and access remote conservation areas that would otherwise be difficult to reach. \u201cWe are grateful for local landowners and the community of Luta for allowing this work to continue\u201d said Carey Demapan, DLNR\u2019s Endangered Species Program manager. \u201cWe are optimistic our efforts are contributing to the recovery of the species\u201d said Demapan.<\/p>\n

\u00c5ga can breed year-round on Luta but most nests fail, and the young that are produced often die before reaching maturity. Luckily, \u00e5ga pairs will lay new eggs if they lose their first clutch, which allows conservation biologists to collect eggs each year (up to 15) for captive-rearing while the wild pairs go on to replace the lost eggs and continue to rear their young in the wild. The \u00e5ga population on Luta has grown from 46 breeding pairs in 2014 (Kroner & Ha 2018) to 71 pairs in 2024. Ten percent of these \u00e5ga were reared and released by the program. The adult released \u00e5ga often pair with wild mates and thus far have produced four fledglings (baby birds) of their own. With 71 adult pairs, the current population on Luta is just shy of the 75 breeding pairs needed to maintain a viable breeding population on Luta, an important milestone for DLNR and partners. The criteria for downlisting the species include 75 breeding pairs on Luta and one other location. Rearing of the next cohort of \u00e5ga for release into the wild will begin this September.<\/p>\n

For more information, you may contact the DLNR Endangered Species Program at (670) 322-9834 or the UW Mariana Crow Recovery Project at (670) 532-0057. (PR)<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Mariana crow (corvus kubaryi), known in Chamorro as \u201c\u00e5ga,\u201d in captivity.<\/p>\n

-RUMAAN MALHOTRA
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

The Mariana crow (corvus kubaryi<\/em>), known in Chamorro as \u201c\u00e5ga,\u201d in captivity.<\/p>\n

-RUMAAN MALHOTRA
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

The Mariana crow (corvus kubaryi), known in Chamorro as \u201c\u00e5ga,\u201d in captivity.<\/p>\n

-RUMAAN MALHOTRA
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00c5ga enthusiasts can rejoice as the species reached an important milestone recently. The Mariana crow…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-411155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411155\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}