Newsletter / Blog
2012-04-07 Great news – 18 Madagascar pochard ducklings hatched.
The Madagascar
Pochard - Aythya innotata – was thought to be extinct in the late 1990s
and was rediscovered in 2006. It is claimed to be the rarest duck in the world.
Today only 60 individuals remain which include the 18 ducklings hatched in a captive
breeding centre. It is endemic to Madagascar.
Description
The Madagascar Pochard is a medium-sized
diving duck. The male is dark chestnut-rufous all over except for a white eye,
white undertail-coverts, white underparts and conspicuous white wing-bar along
bases of flight feathers. Bill is dull brown with paler, bluish subterminal
band. Female is duller brownish, lacking white eye.
Food
They feed on
aquatic plants and invertebrates.
Conservation Status – Critically Endangered
This species was
rediscovered in 2006 following the last sighting in 1991. It is currently known
from a single location where 25 mature individuals were seen in 2008. While it
may also persist at other sites, the population is likely to be tiny and
therefore it is classified as Critically Endangered. There do not appear to be
any immediate threats to the species at the site of its rediscovery, but given
that it has a tiny known population, it faces significant risk from stochastic
events and genetic factors, particularly inbreeding depression.
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