Aviary plans to breed at-risk species
Aviary plans to breed at-risk species
By Bill Zlatos
Tribune-Review
Published: Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 6:48 p.m.
Updated 5 hours ago
The National Aviary in Pittsburgh has hatched a plan to help conserve some of the rarest birds in the world.
"We want to make sure as much as possible that we have these species represented so we can educate the public about the challenges the species face, breeding those species as much as possible and also looking at the health care issues they face," Pat Mangus, executive director of the aviary, said on Tuesday.
"The goal is to ensure these populations are represented in the wild as well as in zoos for generations to come," he said.
Aviary officials presented a five-year plan to the Allegheny Regional Asset District Board yesterday that makes conservation through the breeding of rare species a key goal. The aviary on the North Side houses more than 500 birds representing at least 150 species.
One rare species the aviary would like to get is the cock-of-the-rock, a bird that lives in South America. The males have brilliant reddish-orange plumes.
"They're a flagship species of the rain forest, and visually they're stunning," said Steve Sarro, director of animal collections for the aviary.
The aviary would breed South African penguins, Guam rails and Andean condors -- all species it has.
The number of South African penguins has declined from overfishing of their food source; humans' use of guano as fertilizer but which penguins use to cushion their eggs; and global climate change. The third factor forces the penguins to swim farther out to sea to hunt, making them more vulnerable to predators.
Mangus said Guam rails were decimated from Micronesia during World War II when brown tree snakes arrived in the wells of planes. The snakes had no natural predators, but conservation groups are trying to rid them from some islands.
The rails "got to the point where they were extinct in the wild," he said. "We are breeding Guam rails that are being sent back to the islands."
Mangus said the aviary is working with the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium to breed Andean condors. The condors would live at the zoo's International Conservation Center in Somerset County and then be released to their home turf in South America.
Numbers of condors dwindled because of the use of DDT, a pesticide that thins the egg shells of birds.
Education is another thrust of the aviary's new strategic plan. It is holding a seminar on May 11-12 with the Rachel Carson Institute at Chatham University titled "Silent Spring at 50." The book by the late environmentalist Carson, a Springdale native, led to the ban of DDT.
Mangus said the plan, approved by the aviary board last year, does not call for any more building. The aviary completed a $17.5 million renovation and expansion in 2010. That project included construction of the Helen M. Schmidt FliteZone Theater.
Last year, 120,816 people visited the aviary, which seeks to increase paid attendance by 10 percent this year.
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