Source : The Star, Malaysia, 11 Jan '05
By : Hilary Chiew
  

DNA technology has enabled conservationists to identify the exact species of the ill-fated bird and find its relatives in captivity to facilitate breeding – paving the way for eventual re-introduction into its former home range.

A new phase of the breeding programme has just begun with the arrival of a dozen of the young birds from Britain early last month, courtesy of the World Pheasant Association (WPA). The WPA is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the conservation of Galliformes (chicken-like birds).

	Perhilitan research division director Siti Hawa Yatim: ‘The survival rate of the first batch of birds at the Malacca Zoo is a good sign to proceed with release in designated areas.’

The new arrivals will strengthen the nucleus of a breeding group that was formed in 1990 when four pairs of birds were donated by the WPA. The birds were distributed to the Malacca Zoo and the Sungkai Wildlife Breeding Centre in Perak – both research facilities of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan).

Perhilitan research division director Siti Hawa Yatim says re-introduction will only take place in three years’ time when the second group of birds starts to reproduce and adapt to the semi-wild environment at the Sungkai and Jemaluang (Johor) breeding centres.

Under the programme, propagation will be expedited and hens will be induced to produce a maximum of three clutches of eggs per year. “We will transfer the first and second clutches to the incubator, thus creating a false sense of unsuccessful breeding and encourage the birds to lay a third clutch of eggs,” Siti Hawa explains.

“There is no known case of successful re-introduction within the pheasant family, but the survival rate of the first batch of birds at the Malacca Zoo is a good sign to proceed with release in designated areas,” she enthuses.

Matching collections

Conservationists had to ensure that the birds in captive breeding facilities in Europe are of the same origin as the extinct bird – that they belong to the Pavo muticus muticus subspecies in Peninsular Malaysia and Java, Indonesia.

In 2000, WPA vice-president Gary Robbins collected 21 DNA samples from the Raffles Collection at the National University of Singapore and the Natural History Museum at Tring, Britain, during a six-month DNA project.

	Pheasants are among the world's most beautiful birds, and the Green peafowl is native to Malaysia and Java.--Photo by Ibrahim Mohtar.

There was a total of 13 Green peafowl skins originating from Malacca, Kuala Tembeling, Kuala Tahan and Kuala Rompin in Pahang, Sg Nerus and Bukit Jong in Terengganu in the early 1900s.

“The feathers and foot tissues were shipped to Italy for laboratory analysis under the guidance of the world’s foremost authority on bird DNA – Dr Ettore Randi. His research revealed that the species originally found in Malaysia was the Javan Green Peafowl. The DNA samples will be used to test for purity in any release programme and to act as future wild markers for comparison,” says Robbins in an e-mail interview.

“Subsequently, all the breeding birds considered to be P. muticus muticus, held by two well-known enthusiasts and breeders, one in Britain and the other in Germany, had their DNA samples taken in 2003 and these were compared with the wild markers and found to be suitable matches. Young birds selected from this stock are being sent to Malaysia to form the nucleus of a future breeding group.” Another six birds from Germany, and 12 more from Britain, are scheduled to arrive in Malaysia.

Robbins says a plan to prepare for re-introduction was discussed in 1989 which culminated in the delivery of the initial four pairs to enable Perhilitan’s staff to learn the technique of keeping and breeding the jungle fowl in captivity. The eight birds were selected from the stock of a breeder who was considered to have pure birds as DNA testing was not available at that time.

However, a recent DNA sampling of the semi-wild birds in Malacca Zoo showed that they matched the wild marker of P.m. muticus.

“It was the dream of the then Director General of Wildlife and National Parks, Mohd Khan Momin Khan, to see the Green peafowl back, living in the wild. He expressed this wish to the WPA in 1982. The Green peafowl became extinct in Malaysia around 1960 following extensive clearing of prime forests to make way for oil palm plantations. Firearms were easily available then which allowed easy access to the birds as a source of food,” says Robbins.

The last sighting, recorded before 1965, occurred along the river margins in the district of Besut, Terengganu. These wild birds inhabit river valleys and adjacent flatlands, which are the first to be cleared and settled by man, giving rise to hunting pressure.

Robbins’ colleague, co-vice president John Corder, was probably among the few people who last saw the wild birds.

“I saw wild Green peafowl feeding on the beaches in Terengganu in 1958, having flown out of the forest where they roosted during the night. This may have been one of the last strongholds of the birds before they disappeared from Malaysia,” says Corder. He first saw the fowls in the same area in 1956, and that prompted his return two years later.

Suitable sites

As hunting and habitat loss were the main causes for the extinction of the species, the re-introduction programme must ensure that such threats are mitigated before the programme can make headway.

Perhilitan has identified Kuala Tahan in Taman Negara as the site for the first stage of re-introduction. This is a protected area with anti-poaching patrols. However, as the birds will not be capable of breeding until they are three to four years old, Corder points out that it is not necessary to determine the release sites at this moment.

Siti Hawa says that several other wildlife reserves where the birds were known to exist previously are being considered as well as forest reserves for the latter phases of re-introduction. A successful re-introduction will add value to protected areas like Taman Negara.

“Eco-tourism can bring additional tourists into an area where such a project is being carried out, thus bringing a valuable source of income to local people. Because so many visitors go to Taman Negara, this is an ideal site for a public education programme on this re-introduced species,” adds Robbins.

Breeding success

WPA is relieved that some of the first batch of birds, which had escaped from their enclosures in Malacca Zoo into the forested area, were not poached.

“After two years of liberty, the birds were seen to be breeding and flying out of the zoo to feed on the grass on a nearby golf course. This is exactly the behaviour that is seen in wild Green peafowls that roost in high trees in the forest at night and fly out to grassy clearings during the day to feed.

“An additional male was released to mix the bloodlines. A survey was carried out in July, when a total of 13 birds were seen, of which four are chicks, with two females. The young were hatched and raised in the forested areas, again replicating natural behaviour. A couple of fatalities were known to have occurred on a nearby road in the last few years,” says Robbins.

“Any concern over whether these peafowls could sustain a natural existence when released into the wild can be put aside. Thus a further requirement of the re-introduction guidelines has been fulfilled,” he adds.

Another criterion for re-introduction is that specimens for release are pure and not hybrids.

Corder says the birds sent to Malaysia are from unrelated parent stock to provide the greatest degree of genetic variation. Each bird is ringed and assigned an individual number that records its parentage.

“We will send unrelated stock as the founder birds for Malaysia. It will be easy to send larger numbers of birds that are related to each other but this could mean starting with an in-bred stock.

“This will be a very long programme because, for both WPA and Perhilitan, it is important that we do not make mistakes which cannot be rectified later,” he adds.

Young birds need to be parent-reared to stand a chance of survival if re-introduced, says Robbins.

Special aviaries that allow the parent birds to raise their young need to be constructed and special release pens are required in places where the birds will eventually be released.

Fact file

Green peafowl (Pavo muticus)

Other names: Green-necked peafowl, Burmese peafowl, Javan peafowl

Subspecies: P.m. muticus, native to Malaysia and Java; P.m. spicifer from north-eastern India and north-western Myanmar; and P.m. imperator found in Indo-China

Range: South-East Asia

Habitat: Forests and scrubland

Status: The species is considered vulnerable to endangered in the wild. P.m. spicifer is now believed to be extinct; P.m. imperator is found in scattered populations in Yunnan Province in China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand; P.m. muticus is found only in Java, with an estimated 1,000 left in the wild.