REWILDING FLOREANA

Durrell’s Floreana Mitigation Programme Officer, Roland Digby tells us about his work in the Galápagos to revive Floreana’s fragile ecosystem.

Roland’s career began in zoos, specialising in aviculture and then later moving into species recovery focusing on avian reintroduction and translocation. Over the last ten years he has worked on a number of high profile projects including; cirl bunting translocation to the Roseland in Cornwall, the great crane project reintroducing cranes to the Somerset levels, the Madagascar pochard recovery program and black-tailed godwit headstarting on the Ouse Washes. The most notable achievement was developing the protocols for spoon-billed sandpiper headstarting; as this ground breaking project reversed the decline of the species on their main breeding grounds on the south coast of Chukotka, Russia. These techniques have now been adapted for a range of other headstarting projects, inzcluding black-tailed godwits and curlew. Roland has also worked in an advisory capacity for other projects, including a proposed Gouldian finch reintroduction to Far North Queensland and a stint breeding houbara in the Middle East.

HEADSTARTING A conservation technique in which animals are reared in captivity and eventually released into the wild when they reach a certain size.

TELL US WHY YOU HAVE COME TO FLOREANA AND WHAT YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE? I have come to Floreana to develop the protocols to hold captive populations of the respective species of Darwin’s finches on the Island as a safety measure during the invasive predator eradication planned for 2020. Additionally, I will be training the national parks staff in all aspects of captive management. After the eradication, I shall be leading the translocations and reintroductions of the avian species that were previously on the island.

WHAT EXCITED YOU ABOUT THIS PROJECT? One of the main factors that excited me about the project was the chance to come and live and work in the Galápagos Islands, which has been a lifelong dream. With the added bonus of working with some fascinating species, whilst being directly involved with the restoration of the island’s biodiversity.

TELL US WHAT IT’S LIKE LIVING AND WORKING IN THE GALÁPAGOS? The islands are stunning, the people are lovely and laid back and the wildlife is amazing. I especially enjoy living right on the beach in Floreana and the ability to snorkel daily with a myriad of different fish species, as well as turtles, penguins and sea lions. Whilst resources are limited on a tiny island with only 140 residents, much of the food is grown organically on the island and that, with the freshly caught fish, is some of the tastiest food I’ve ever eaten.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR PRIORITY SINCE ARRIVING IN DECEMBER? My priority has been developing the techniques and protocols to house and hold the lowland species of Darwin’s finch (small ground, medium ground, cactus and small tree finches).

HOW DID YOU CATCH THE BIRDS YOU NEEDED FOR THE TRIAL? We used mist nests to capture the birds. We would begin early in the morning to avoid the excessive heat and making sure that netting stopped by 9am to avoid any risk of losses through overheating. The lowland species did not respond to call back (playing bird calls through speakers to attract them), so we used a technique of pre-baiting areas with cracked maize and grated yuca (cassava root), or by placing the net in front of fruiting siguela trees or those in flower, as all of the species are particularly fond of nectar.

WHY DO YOU NEED TO KEEP THE BIRDS IN CAPTIVITY? We need to keep the birds as a safety net population during the eradication of invasive predators, which will involve baiting the whole island with a biodegradable poison. Due to the slight risk of some birds taking the poison and the fact that the Darwin’s finches are genetically unique to each island (with one species, the medium tree finch, found solely on Floreana), it is necessary to make sure we have protected safety-net populations of each species no matter how slim the risk.

HOW DO YOU CHECK THAT THE BIRDS ARE HEALTHY? The birds are observed on a daily basis and we focus on those that are not behaving normally, whether through injury or ill health. In the case of the latter, we looked particularly at whether the birds plumage was more fluffed up than usual (indicating poor body condition and feeling the cold) and whether the birds themselves were subdued. Likewise, we trained the birds to land on a set of scales for food and finally we take faecal samples on a weekly basis to monitor parasite levels so we can take action before any diseases develop.

WHAT’S BEEN THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE SO FAR WITH THIS PROJECT? The biggest challenges are the remoteness of the location and the strict and necessary biosecurity controls, which means we cannot just go out and buy a few sacks of finch seed mix as we would in the UK. Fortunately, we can get lots of fruit on Floreana, as well as yuca which the birds loved grated, along with quinoa and flax seed. We were also able to make an insectivorous seed mix, from ground nuts, grated egg, dried fruit and dried mealworms which the birds loved and covered the needs of the more insectivorous species.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE PROJECT? We are about the start the highland trial with medium tree finches and small tree finches, which will bring new and exciting challenges.