The captive breeding and conservation programme of the Bali starling (Leucopsar rothschildi)

  • B. van Balen
  • V. H. Gepak
Chapter

Abstract

The Bali starling (Leucopsar rothschildi) is a strikingly beautiful silky-white bird with black tips to the flight feathers and blue naked skin around the eyes. It was first described and placed in a monotypic genus by Stresemann in 1912, a year after he discovered it in the dry lowland forest along the coast of north-west Bali (Stresemann, 1912). Since its discovery the numbers have declined and its distribution has receded. In the 1920s it occupied roughly 30 000 ha of uninhabited land (Paardt, 1926; Plessen, 1926; Helvoort, 1990), but with the progressive conversion of forest to agricultural land, by the late 1980s its range had shrunk to less than 4000 ha and the population was restricted to a small part of the Bali Barat National Park in the north-west of the island (Helvoort, 1990). In the last 20 years the decline in numbers has been accelerated by trapping for the international pet trade and an increased demand from aviculturists. By 1990 the total wild population was estimated to be as low as 13 (Balen and Soetawidjaya, 1991). The Bali starling has been included in the IUCN Red Data Book since 1966, in the Endangered category, and international trade is prohibited under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Since 1970 the species has had absolute protection under Indonesian law.

Keywords

Release Site Captive Population Captive Breeding Release Programme Bali Barat 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Balen B. van and Jepson, P. (1992) Bali Starling Project: Activity Report, January–August 1992, ICBP Indonesian Programme, Bogor.Google Scholar
  2. Balen, B. van and Soetawidjaja, M.N. (1991) Bali Starling Project: Interim Report October–December 1990. Internal Document. ICBP Indonesian Programme, Bogor.Google Scholar
  3. Elbin, S.B., Burger, J., Koontz, F.W. and Bruning, D. (1991) Preliminary evaluation of radio-transmitter attachment methods for captive and reintroduced Bali Mynans. Poster presentation at the Am. Ornith Union meeting, Montreal.Google Scholar
  4. Fisher, I.J. (1992) The Bali Starling Regional Studbook 31 Dec. 1991, Zool. Soc. of London, London.Google Scholar
  5. Frankin, I.R. (1980) Evolutionary change in small populations, in Conservation Biology (eds M.E. Soulé and B.A. Wilcox), Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA, pp. 135–49.Google Scholar
  6. Helvoort, B.E. van (1990) The Bali Starling Leucopsar rothschildi Stresemann 1912; its current status and need for conservation. ASEAN Workshop on Wildlife Res. and Manag. PHPA, Bogor, pp. 115–31.Google Scholar
  7. Helvoort, B.E. van, Soetawidjaja, M.N. and Hartojo, P. (1986) The Bali Starling (Leucopsar rothschildi): A Case for Wild and Captive Breeding, ICBP, Cambridge UK.Google Scholar
  8. Paardt, Th. van der (1926) Manoek Putih: Leucopsar rothschildi. De Tropische Natuur., 15, 169–73.Google Scholar
  9. Partington, C.J., Gardiner, C.H., Fritz, D. et al. (1989) Atoxoplasmosis in Bali mynahs (Leucopsar rothschildi). J. Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 20, 328–35.Google Scholar
  10. Plessen, V. von (1926) Verbreitung und Lebensweise von Leucopsar rothschildi Stres. Ornith. Monatsb., 34, 71–3.Google Scholar
  11. Seal, U.S. (ed.) (1990) Bali Starling Leucopsar rothschildi: Viability Analysis and Species Survival Plan, Workshop Report, CBSG/IUCN, MN.Google Scholar
  12. Seibels, R.E. (1991) 1990 Regional Studbook for the Bali Mynah (Leucopsar rothschildi), Riverbanks Zoological Park, Columbia.Google Scholar
  13. Seibels, R.E. (1992) Bali Mynah, in AAZPA Annual Report Conservation and Research Report (1991–1992) (eds R.S. Weise, M. Hutchins, K. Willis and S. Becker), AAZPA, Bethesd, Maryland, pp. 177–8.Google Scholar
  14. Stresemann, E. (1912) Description of a new genus and a new species of bird from the Dutch East Islands. Bull. B.O.C., 31, 4–6.Google Scholar
  15. Taynton, K and Jeggo, D. (1988) Factors affecting breeding success of Rothschild’s Mynah (Leucopsar rothschildi) at the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust. Dodo, J. Jersey Wildl. Preserv. Trust, 25, 66–76.Google Scholar
  16. Thohari, M., Masyud, B., Mansjoer, S.S. et al. (1991) Comparative study on blood protein polymorphism of captive Bali Starling (Leucopsar rothschildi) from Indonesia, the United States and England. Media Konservasi, 3, 1–10.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1994

Authors and Affiliations

  • B. van Balen
    • 1
  • V. H. Gepak
    • 2
  1. 1.ICBP Indonesia ProgrammeIndonesia
  2. 2.Kebun Binatang SurabayaIndonesia

Personalised recommendations