The sihek guam kingfisher is extinct in the wild recent population viability analyses have identified a critical need to expand the population to prevent extinction trask ET AL 2021 our project aims…

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) was awarded a $498,390.60 cooperative agreement from the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1 under the Endangered Species Recovery Implementation (CFDA 15.657) federal grant program. The award will support ZSL's efforts to reestablish the critically endangered Sihek kingfisher in its native habitat on Guam and expand existing captive breeding populations between October 1, 2022 and December 31, 2026.

Specifically, ZSL will transport kingfisher eggs from Association of Zoos and Aquariums partner institutions to a quarantine facility in Hawaii for rearing and eventual release on Palmyra Atoll to establish the first wild population in 35 years. Excess birds from the quarantine facility will also be sent to Guam to supplement the captive breeding program housed at the Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources. ZSL will provide post-release monitoring of birds on Palmyra Atoll and visiting keeper support to care for kingfishers on Guam. The award aims to increase the global Sihek population and support recovery actions outlined in government recovery plans.

The sihek guam kingfisher is extinct in the wild recent population viability analyses have identified a critical need to expand the population to prevent extinction trask ET AL 2021 our project aims to address this by 1 RE establishing the first wild sihek population in 35 years through assisted colonization of palmyra atoll recovery action 3 9 and 2 expanding the captive breeding program on guam recovery action 2 2 we established a quarantined rearing facility in hawaii to provide birds for release AZA partner institutions are ready to send sihek eggs to the quarantine facility, where they will be reared to fledging age to manage SEX ratio of the release cohort, more eggs than the target 9 birds will be reared at the quarantine facility those not selected for release will be transported to guam to supplement the population at the division of aquatic and wildlife resources dawr the current funding request will support these birds onward journey to palmyra atoll an initial release of 9 sihek is proposed for 2023 conditional on this requested funding , with annual releases thereafter the requested funds will support the transport of this first release cohort and their intensive post release management palmyra has the potential to increase the global sihek population by up to 42 and increase species redundancy by establishing a new population guam dawr currently houses 11 sihek but has secured funds to construct 10 new aviaries the requested funds will support the transport of 4 excess sihek from the quarantine facility to guam to assist dawr staff visiting keeper staff from partner zoological institutions will rotate through every 3 months to assist with sihek care and a biosecurity program to mitigate ongoing snake threats recovery action 4 1 these keepers will also support the KO KO guam rail captive program this represents a natural extension of both programs, which are closely CO managed across participating zoological institutions and dawr