Home / Environment / 400-Year Hiatus Ends: Ibis Colony Reborn in Alps
400-Year Hiatus Ends: Ibis Colony Reborn in Alps
14 Sep
Summary
- Northern bald ibis, extinct in Europe for 400 years, has been reintroduced.
- Young ibises were trained to follow a microlight aircraft to Italy.
- A self-sustaining colony is now established, but still requires management.
The northern bald ibis, absent from Central Europe for 400 years, has been successfully reintroduced. This remarkable conservation effort involved teaching young, captive-bred birds to migrate south to Italy using a microlight aircraft. The first successful guided flights over the Alps occurred in 2007.
By 2011, these trained ibises began returning to their German breeding grounds independently. This marked a significant step toward re-establishing a migratory population that had been extinct in the region since the 17th century due to overhunting.
Researchers have established four breeding colonies across Germany and Austria, with around 200 birds by late 2021. Despite progress, a study published by Cambridge University Press highlights that the population requires ongoing management due to threats like illegal hunting and electrocution.
While survival probabilities are promising, population viability analysis indicates a need for further interventions. Modifying dangerous power poles has significantly reduced electrocution-related losses in Germany.
