Melbourne Zoo Lord Howe stick insects return home

Chlidonias

Chlidonias

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Rare 'land lobsters' returned to Lord Howe Island - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
The world's rarest insect has been returned to its native habitat on Lord Howe Island.
The lord howe island stick insect, which grows to 15 centimetres long and is sometimes know as the 'land lobster', was believed to have been wiped out after a supply ship brought rats to the island in 1918.
But in 2001 a tiny population was discovered clinging to the edge of Ball's Pyramid, a rocky outcrop which rises from the sea about 25 kilometres off the island.
The insects were bred in captivity at Melbourne Zoo and now the zoo's invertebrate specialist Patrick Honan has brought 20 of them home.
"We've got 15 times the population in captivity than exists in the wild, but really they belong on Lord Howe Island, not in a zoo" he said.
"They've managed to hang on very precariously, given the lush tropical conditions on the island where they've come from and given the harsh conditions where they've managed to survive on Ball's Pyramid for the last 80 years and given the difficulty of keeping them going in captivity, it's pretty amazing that they've got this far.
The 10 males and 10 females will be on display at a special facility built within the island's native plant nursery.
The insects will only be allowed to roam free on Lord Howe Island after the rats have been eradicated. An aerial-baiting program to wipe out the rodents is due to start in 2011.
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there's a video on the link too
 
Good. It's always good to read about practical zoo-assisted conservation work, and not read the spin most zoos put on a single captive breeding.

:)

Hix
 
I agree ... It puts the spotlight on the value zoos have in wild species management and recovery efforts. Zoos can quickly augment the wild populations by breeding up to a level where re-releases are applicable if species negative conditions for their extinction or removal have been met.

I look forward to further news regarding the eradication of their main predator species - the rat - from their island habitat. I suppose that will not happen before another 2 years or so (given that rat eradication has to be thorough and followed up 6 mo. or so other the initial effort).
 
Luckily, we have New Zealand as a neighbour, and their Department of Conservation (I think that's what it's called) are the world's experts in pest eradication on islands.

:)

Hix
 
New facts revealed about rare stick insect - New Zealand news on Stuff.co.nz
An Auckland entomologist has uncovered new information about the evolution of one of the world's rarest insects.


Research on the Lord Howe Island tree lobster by Landcare Research scientist Thomas Buckley and Sven Bradler from the University of Gottingen in Germany has been published by the Royal Society in London today.

The tree lobster is a ground-dwelling stick insect, about 13cm long, that was once common throughout Lord Howe Island. But the introduction of rats led to its extinction by the 1960s on the World Heritage-listed island 600km east of mainland Australia.

However, about two dozen of the insects were discovered in 2001 on a 200m wide rocky island about 25km from Lord Howe. Since then a breeding programme at Melbourne Zoo has helped boost the population so the species can be re-introduced into the wild after eradication of rats.

Dr Buckley said DNA analysis showed the Lord Howe tree lobster was a "stunning" example of convergent evolution where different species evolve to look and behave the same independently.

Previously scientists thought the Lord Howe tree lobster was related to other tree lobsters from New Guinea and New Caledonia.

But Dr Buckley's research found the tree lobsters from the three Pacific islands had each evolved resembling one another from different stick insect ancestors.

"We performed special analysis using DNA sequences to decipher the evolutionary affinities among tree lobsters and discovered that they are not closely related to each other but evolved independently on separate oceanic islands.

"Obviously, similar selective pressure repeatedly led to the evolution of extreme convergences in form and behaviour."

The research showed how unique the Lord Howe tree lobster was, so its continued survival was important, Dr Buckley said.
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A major issue is that the human residents of Lord Howe Island aren't keen on having the insects back. Some have threatened to kill all the animals if they are released. And a few oppose the eradication of rats on the island as well, citing concerns for the wellbeing of seabirds and woodhens that ma be affected by the poisons.
 
jay said:
A major issue is that the human residents of Lord Howe Island aren't keen on having the insects back. Some have threatened to kill all the animals if they are released. And a few oppose the eradication of rats on the island as well, citing concerns for the wellbeing of seabirds and woodhens that ma be affected by the poisons.
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have you got a link relating to the stick insect part of your post? Why would they be opposing stick insects? I'd like to have a read of that.
 
Chlidonias said:
have you got a link relating to the stick insect part of your post? Why would they be opposing stick insects? I'd like to have a read of that.
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Hi Chlidonias. the information came from a great book called phasmid by rothan cleve

Phasmid, Rohan Cleave and Coral Tulloch, 9781486301126
basically people don't like them. they have stories from previous generations about them getting into houses noisy dirty etc. I think too that because the idea of reintroduction came from mainlanders there was an element of how dare they tell us what to do etc.
the book is an excellent read and covers it more thoroughly. Get hold of it if you can
 
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