WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The Sedgwick County Zoo is helping return the Guam Kingfisher, which has been extinct in the wild for over 30 years, to the wild in the Pacific.
Nine of the zoo’s Kingfisher birds are heading to an island south of Hawai’i. They were initially found in Guam until the United States accidentally introduced the brown tree snake there after World War II.
“The brown tree snake isn’t an evil animal. It’s just doing what it does,” Scott Newland, the president and CEO of Sedgwick County Zoo, said. “But unfortunately, the Guam Kingfisher, the Guam Rales, and a couple of other bird species on the island just didn’t have the defenses to deal with the predatory nature of the brown tree snake.”
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The birds were raised in a special quarantine facility at the zoo. Newland said it’s rare for people to experience this type of event.
“For some of our staff, their interest with the animals that they take care of, they might never have an opportunity to see one of the animals that they’ve reared go back into the wild,” Newland said. “So this is incredibly emotional for a lot of us.”