– Not everyone applauds the first brood of the northern bald ibis in Switzerland
The fact that the northern bald ibis have offspring in Rümlang is celebrated as a success in reintroducing them to Europe. However, the Swiss bird protection does not join in the jubilation. How come?
Published: 14.07.2023, 20:00
Northern bald ibis feed the chicks with insects and worms from the crop.
Photo: Heinz Zumbühl
The bald heads with the red beaks brooding over the Harley-Davidson garage in Rümlang fascinate many animal lovers. Zurich Zoo lets them participate in the brood with a live broadcast from the nest. With good reason: the zoo has been keeping northern bald ibis for years and supplies young birds for the reintroduction of the bird species in southern Germany and Austria. Other zoos and wildlife parks are also involved in the project. This is how the Rümlanger Waldrappe come from zoo breeding.
While Zurich Zoo is celebrating the first Swiss Waldrapp youngsters in 400 years, the major bird protection organizations Birdlife Schweiz and Vogelwarte Sempach are remarkably silent. In Switzerland, the northern bald ibis is not a priority when it comes to species promotion. If you have any questions, the ornithological center refers you to Zurich Zoo. Birdlife Switzerland refers to a statement from 2014. At that time there were voices that wanted to resettle northern bald ibis in Switzerland, whereupon Birdlife Switzerland explained why they did not support this.
Use funds efficiently
“An extension of the suspension is the completely wrong approach,” stated the nature conservation organization in its newsletter at the time. It is much more important that sufficient funds are used to protect the last wild bald ibis in Morocco. Around 200 to 250 northern bald ibis live there in colonies on the coast. Birdlife Switzerland supports a funding project so that the colonies can grow again.
Funds for conservation are limited. And reintroductions are time-consuming and expensive. Between 2014 and 2019 alone, 4.4 million euros were invested in reintroducing the Northern Bald Ibis into the wild in Germany and Austria. From 2022 to 2028 even 6.5 million euros. You can find out on the EU project website. “Because the finances in nature conservation are far too tight, the question should always be asked whether much more could be achieved for biodiversity with a large sum of money,” Birdlife Switzerland stated in the newsletter. While other species enhancement projects could also be expensive, most would also enhance habitats that would benefit multiple species.
Non-migratory zoo birds
But it’s not just about the money. Another point of criticism: people want to train the birds to migrate by piloting them over the Alps to their winter quarters with aircraft. The northern bald ibis would no longer move away on their own in the winter. Since 2004, researchers have been flying ahead of them in microlight aircraft so that the northern bald ibis can find their way to the area in Tuscany intended by humans. “The birds should actually know the migration routes by now. Nevertheless, every year stray birds have to be caught and driven to the target area in cages,” stated Birdlife Switzerland.
In addition, it is not certain how widespread the northern bald ibis was in Central Europe 400 years ago. According to the bird experts, only a handful of breeding sites are sufficiently occupied. And on these, too, the northern bald ibis was probably extinct again around 1621 at the latest.
There is no documented evidence from Italy. Birdlife Switzerland therefore described the choice of Italy as the wintering area for the released birds as arbitrary. “It is questionable whether the current habitats in Central Europe and Italy are suitable for the species, and the temporary feeding of the birds even after they have been released is critical.”
Act before a species becomes extinct
In fact, the northern bald ibis gets a lot of attention while other species are quietly dying out. 17 percent of all animal and plant species in Switzerland are “threatened with extinction” or “endangered”. Another 16 percent are considered “vulnerable” – their population has shrunk by 30 percent in the last ten years. This is the sad balance sheet of the Federal Office for the Environment from May of this year. The Ornithological Institute and Birdlife Switzerland are committed to upgrading the habitats of endangered species so that they do not become extinct in the first place. They therefore support the efforts for the last wild bald ibises in Morocco. Those in Europe leave them to the zoos and animal parks.
Anna Berard is an editor in the Zürcher Unterland department. She has been working in journalism for 13 years.More info
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2023-07-14 22:49:06
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