u/knakr

Gorgeous Socorro Dove i photographed at the Kölner Zoo. I looked around the place for an hour without being able to spot the animal, until it landed directly next to me on the railing.

Sadly, after I took these pictures a man trying to be a disney princess tried to touch the bird and it flew away.. I was incredibly happy to have seen it in person tho.

This species is extinct in the wild and only survives through captive animals. Last documented wild one was in 1972 and the species has been officially extinct in the wild since 1983.

The cause of extinction was from introduced animals to Socorro, such as feral domestic cats, rats, mice and sheep.

Socorro Doves are very closely related to mourning doves and many captive animals were suspected or proven to be hybrids between the two species. Currently there are less than 200 of them, but an active breeding program is in action, hoping to be able to introduce them back to the wild in the near future.

This is pretty much a respost because the mod of this subreddit suggested I could post this here too. So a thank you to them for making me aware of this great subreddit 🙂👍

The pictures can be used by anybody as long as given credit to my iNaturalist @i-oda

Gorgeous Socorro Dove i photographed at the Kölner Zoo. I looked around the place for an hour without being able to spot the animal, until it landed directly next to me on the railing.

Sadly, after I took these pictures a man trying to be a disney princess tried to touch the bird and it flew away.. I was incredibly happy to have seen it in person tho.

This species is extinct in the wild and only survives through captive animals. Last documented wild one was in 1972 and the species has been officially extinct in the wild since 1983.

The cause of extinction was from introduced animals to Socorro, such as feral domestic cats, rats, mice and sheep.

Socorro Doves are very closely related to mourning doves and many captive animals were suspected or proven to be hybrids between the two species. Currently there are less than 200 of them, but an active breeding program is in action, hoping to be able to introduce them back to the wild in the near future.

The pictures can be used by anybody as long as given credit to my iNaturalist @i-oda

I want to thank the people that commented under my last post about the NBB for telling me the amazing news:

For the first time ever there are pictures of a living New Britain Bronzewing Pigeon (Henicophaps foersteri)! An elusive bird that was last documented in 1972 and hasnt been photographed ever before.

Not just that we now have a picture, its such a good one too! You can see most of the features clearly and the bird really is as gorgeous as discribed.

I apologize for the little information I will put in this post, i just want others to know about the existence of this pretty bird.

Text taken from @thetoledozoo on Instagram:

"For the first time ever, a living New Britain bronzewing dove has been photographed. 📸🕊️

An international team of researchers, including Joe Wood, Toledo Zoo's Manager of International Conservation Programs, and Jason Gregg and Ethan Linck from Montana State University, recently confirmed the existence of this elusive bird in a remote region of Papua New Guinea. The species was considered lost to western science for more than half a century, having been last documented in 1972.

The team obtained clear photographs of the female bird. These are the first known images of a living New Britain bronzewing.

The expedition was funded by the Toledo Zoo through its support of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC) Pigeon and Dove Specialist Group, which the Zoo hosts.

The discovery is an important step toward understanding and protecting the species, and highlights the impact of global conservation partnerships. It also would not have been possible without the knowledge and partnership of the Arowe people, who have long known the bird as "Kau."

From northwest Ohio to rainforests around the world, Toledo Zoo conservation efforts are helping protect wildlife and advance scientific understanding of species that need it most.

📷: Jason Gregg / Toledo Zoo"