10 Weird Wildlife Conservation Strategies That Actually Worked
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Jamie founded Listverse due to an insatiable desire to share fascinating, obscure, and bizarre facts. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author.More About Us
The main problem conservation biologists deal with is population: there’s either too much of one species or not enough of another. Because of the diversity in the animal and plant kingdoms, much of conservation work is concerned with the most effective ways to kill “bad” species and encourage “good” ones to reproduce. Here are a few of the most interesting ideas that scientists have used to control the lives of other species.
Fossil records indicate that in pre-Polynesian times, the kākāpō was New Zealand s third most common bird. However, their numbers have declined by 80 per cent in the past 100 years. They are the heaviest parrot species in the world with females weighing around 1.4 kg, and males 2.2 kg. The country’s kākāpō population currently lives on just four predator-free islands – Codfish Island/Whenua Hou, Te Hauturu-o-Toi/Little Barrier Island, Chalky Island/Te Kakahu, and Anchor Island. With no predator-free islands big enough to accommodate them, the only option is for DOC to find an island and then eradicate the pests.