One of the closest living relatives dodo has been spotted multiple times in Samoa, raising hopes that this critically endangered creature can be brought back from the brink of extinction.
The latest Samoa Conservation Society (SCS) field survey was conducted from 17 October to November. Five sightings of manumea were reported on January 13 (Didunculus strigyrostris). Previous studies have yielded only one observation, if any. The last photograph of the mysterious species in the wild was taken in 2013.
“That was our concern,” said Sleepy Willproject coordinator specializing in manumea at SCS. “What happens if we can't find the bird? Does this mean that manumea is no more?”
Despite confirming the existence of the manumea, the team had difficulty photographing due to the bird's distance, its rapid movement and rainy weather. “All of a sudden it comes out of nowhere,” Wiley told Live Science. “When we look at it with binoculars, we can see the bird.”
But by the time researchers lower their binoculars to grab the camera, the bird is gone, she said.
Last of its kind
Manumea is the only living species of its kind. Didunculus a genus that will disappear if the bird becomes extinct. The scientific name for manumea is the size of a chicken. Didunculus strigyrostrismeans “little dodo”. Both the dodo and the manumea are island land pigeons.
The dodo became extinct due to habitat loss, hunting and predators. – the same threats to the survival of Manumea. Hunting is outlawed and subject to fines, so it's critical to focus on the current main threat – invasive species, especially feral cats and rats, experts say. Cats prey on live birds and chicks, while rats eat eggs and chicks.
“The impact on manumea is certainly catastrophic,” Joe Wood, manager of international conservation programs at the Toledo Zoo, told Live Science. “It is likely that feral cats are a major cause of population decline,” he said. Woodwho also co-chairs the International Union for Conservation of Nature group that works to conserve Manumea. “There has to be some kind of monitoring program.”
Animal Rescue
In the latest study, conducted this fall, Wiley's team focused on the remote coastal rainforest of Ufato, but manumea are potentially found in six other forests in Samoa. One of those forests, Malololelei Samoa Recreation Reserve, already has an invasive species management program in place, Wiley said. If funding is available, SCS wants to extend invasive species management to areas such as Wafato.
If Manumea is secured, partners working to save it said they could use biobanks to preserve biological samples and create cultured cell lines for the bird. These cell lines will allow them to study Manumea's genetic material and learn more about it. With more information, experts say they will be able to determine the best measures, such as potential captive breeding, to reintroduce the species.
non-profit environmental division of Colossal Biosciences is also supporting some manumea conservation efforts, for example by creating an app to distinguish the call of a manumea from the call of another bird, in hopes of obtaining a more accurate estimate of the prevalence of manumea.
Colossal said they have plans to bring dodos back from extinction. He recently made headlines for “resurrecting” direwolves—essentially editing the genes of gray wolves to include several traits that make them more direwolf-like.
But caution must be exercised when attempting to reintroduce extinct species into ecosystems that have changed since they were alive. Nick RawlensAssociate Professor and Director of the Otago Palaeogenetics Laboratory in the Department of Zoology at the University of Otago in New Zealand, told Live Science.
Rawlance also said you have to bring back enough species to provide genetic diversity so they can adapt and survive, which is known as the 500 rule in conservation.
To save manumea, Rawlens supported Wood and stressed that it is critical to stop invasive species and other threats to the survival of manumea as many are gone.
“I think it will still come down to the hard work of predator control, habitat restoration and translocation,” he said.
Conservation work at Manumea in Samoa is supported by SCS, the Samoan Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, BirdLife International, Colossal Foundation, Toledo Zoo and the Waddesdon Foundation through the Zoological Society of London.
Editor's note: This article was produced in collaboration with the Journalism and Health Impact Fellowship at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
