Re-introduction and population re-enforcement of Asian houbara bustard in Asia

Summary

The Asian houbara bustard (Chlamydotis macqueenii), prized quarry for Arabian falconry, has declined 5 to 8 percent annually across its migratory range from Yemen to Mongolia since 1998, driven mainly by hunting and poaching. The National Avian Research Center, part of Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, aims to establish a self-sustaining wild population in Abu Dhabi and reinforce depleted populations elsewhere, using captive-bred founder stock of the resident Baluchistan bloodline collected in Pakistan in 1987 to 1988, since that population has since declined sharply. Captive production grew from 22 chicks in 2001 to 805 in 2007, with releases in Abu Dhabi rising from 5 birds in 2004 to 86 in 2007, and 18 birds released back into Baluchistan, Pakistan, that same year. All released birds carried satellite or radio transmitters; confirmed mortality reached 48.1 percent by one year post-release, with red foxes responsible for roughly 76 percent of predation, and an additional 16.3 percent of birds unaccounted for. The first successful wild breeding occurred in spring 2007, when three of five surviving 2005-released females produced fertile clutches, two of which hatched four wild chicks and a third was rescued and hatched in captivity. Post-release survival improved when releases coincided with post-rainfall food abundance and declined with age at release. The project rated itself Partially Successful, noting it remains too early to judge overall success, and that released birds may be settling into semi-natural, irrigation-enhanced habitat rather than fully natural desert.