Personell: Dr. Kristina Paxton, Dr. Patrick Hart, Ann Tanimoto
Students: Robbie Justice, David Arakawa, Alice Clements, Elizabeth Lough
Partners: San Diego Zoo Global, Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Three Mountain Alliance, US Geological Survey Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Station
Funding Sources: Disney Conservation Fund and National Science Foundation CREST Grant
The ˊAlalā or Hawaiian Crow (Corvus hawaiiensis) is an endemic species to Hawaiˊi that was once found in forests throughout the Island of Hawaiˊi, but has been extinct in the wild since 2002. An attempt to introduce captive reared birds to the wild when ˊAlalā were on the brink of extinction was unsuccessful, in part because of the lack of forest understory with sufficient food resources and the potential loss of predator avoidance skills and other learned social behaviors following multiple generations of captive rearing. Active forest management over the last two decades to restore ˊAlalā habitat, along with a successful captive breeding program (e.g. >125 captive ˊAlalā), and predator avoidance training has allowed for the release of 16 captive reared ˊAlalā into native forests on the island of Hawaiˊi as of October 2018. The released birds represent what conservationists hope will be the start of a recovering population of wild ˊAlalā. However, the future of ˊAlalā in the wild is uncertain given ambiguity in the factors leading to their decline, and whether captive reared birds have or can acquire the social behaviors necessary for persistence in the wild. To ensure the long-term persistence of ˊAlalā in the wild it is essential to determine whether captive reared ˊAlalā are successfully adapting to novel situations encountered in the wild by acquiring social behaviors associated with predator avoidance, territorial establishment, and reproduction. We will monitor behavior and record associated individual vocalizations to identify key aspects of social behavior that correspond with increased survival and productivity. Exposure of captive reared ˊAlalā to the identified vocalizations along with appropriate behavioral responses will increase the likelihood of successful reintroductions in the future to supplement the current population or establish new populations. The long-term goal of establishing a self-sustaining wild population of ˊAlalā will require flexible and innovative management strategies informed by post-release monitoring such as the research conducted by this project.
Video: Saving the ˊAlalā (Hawaiian Crow) - Acoustics Study
