1 Tahrcountry Musings: New breeding grounds for Short Tailed Albatross suggested

Saturday, October 29, 2005

New breeding grounds for Short Tailed Albatross suggested

Almost the entire world's remaining short-tailed albatrosses breeds on a steep slope of the Japanese volcanic island, Torishima Island. About 2,000 short-tailed albatrosses left in the world spend their winters on the remote Japanese island but spend their summers in Alaska's southern coastline. The island is subject to eruptions, mudslides and erosion. Other threats include entanglements with fishing gear, oil spills and ingestion of plastic debris. US Fish and Wildlife Service has come up with a relocation idea. The ides is to lure the birds using decoys and recorded birdcalls to safer islands. Changing breeding sites of the albatrosses, which mate for life and are fiercely loyal to their places of birth, is not going to be easy. The plan focuses on chicks, which might form attachments to new places if moved at the correct time.

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