Conservation status and reintroduction of the Cocos Buff-banded Rail, Gallirallus philippensis andrewsi
J. C. Z. Woinarski A H , I. MacRae B , T. Flores B , T. Detto C , J. Reid D , C. Pink C , S. Flakus C , M. Misso C , N. Hamilton E , R. Palmer E , K. Morris E , L. Znidersic F and B. Hill G
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Threatened Species Recovery Hub, National Environmental Science Program, Charles Darwin University, Casuarina, NT 0909, Australia.
B Parks Australia, PO Box 1043, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Indian Ocean, 6799, Australia.
C Parks Australia, PO Box 867, Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, 6798, Australia.
D Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia.
E Department of Parks and Wildlife, Woodvale, WA 6946, Australia.
F Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW 2640, Australia.
G Department of Land Resource Management, PO Box 496, Palmerston, NT 0831, Australia.
H Corresponding author. Email: john.woinarski@cdu.edu.au
Emu 116(1) 32-40 https://doi.org/10.1071/MU15052
Submitted: 12 May 2015 Accepted: 6 August 2015 Published: 8 September 2015
Abstract
An endemic subspecies of Buff-banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis) is restricted to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, a group of 27 islands, with total area of ~15 km2, in the north-eastern Indian Ocean. Human settlement led to marked environmental degradation of the 26 islands in the southern atoll of the group. The Cocos Buff-banded Rail declined severely, with the last confirmed record from islands in the southern atoll in 1991. The subspecies has persisted, however, with a population of ~800 individuals, on a single island, Pulu Keeling, 24 km north of the southern atoll. A recovery plan for this endangered subspecies recommended reintroduction to a suitable island in the southern atoll. This paper provides a brief overview of the history and status of the subspecies, and describes an April 2013 reintroduction of 39 rails from Pulu Keeling to the 1-km2 Horsburgh Island in the southern atoll. This program has had at least short-term success, with monitoring showing successful recruitment in the reintroduced population, and its increase to ~54 individuals by October 2014 and ~121 individuals by June 2015. Much of the world’s loss of biodiversity has been from, and continues to occur on, islands: this project demonstrates that well-considered mitigation of threats and translocation programs can provide solutions to this challenge.
Additional keywords: Cocos (Keeling) Islands, islands, predation, threatened species, translocation.
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