Emily Chan
By the 17th century, the northern bald ibis was nearly hunted to extinction. But over the last two decades, breeding and conservation efforts have boosted their numbers, which is excellent news!
The problem is that these birds lack the proper instinct to figure out which direction to fly during migration since they never had any guidance from elders born in the wild. So, it’s up to human scientists to teach them the migration route.
The northern bald ibis is known for its bald red head, long curved beak, and black-and-green plumage.
It was once found in North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and much of Europe, where it was considered a delicacy. Eventually, the birds disappeared from Europe.
Since 2002, a biologist named Johannes Fritz has been working with the Waldrappteam, a conservation group based in Austria, to grow the northern bald ibis population in Central Europe. The population went from zero to now nearly 300.
As a result, the species moved from a status of “critically endangered” to “endangered.” It was the first-ever attempt at reintroducing a migratory bird species that had gone continentally extinct.
Northern bald ibises still have a natural urge to migrate, but they just don’t know where to fly. Because of this, early reintroduction attempts were unsuccessful, as most birds disappeared soon after they were released.
They flew in different directions instead of returning to warmer places, such as Tuscany, Italy, and ended up dying.
So, the team had to act as their flight instructors. This year was the second time they had to teach the birds a new route to Spain due to climate change.
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