Madagascar Pochard
Encyclopedia
The Madagascar Pochard (Aythya innotata) is an extremely rare diving duck
of the genus Aythya
, previously thought extinct. Prior to a rediscovery in 2006, the last confirmed sighting of the species was at Lake Alaotra
on the Central Plateau of Madagascar
in 1991. The single male then encountered was captured and kept in the Antananarivo
Botanical Gardens until its death one year later. Only 20 individuals remain.
This bird probably started to decline dramatically sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s and the cause of decline was the introduction of numerous fish species in the lake, they killed most of the pochard chicks; nesting sites as well as adult birds are also likely to have become victims of introduced fishes. Rice cultivation, cattle grazing on the shores, burning of shore vegetation, introduced mammals (rats), gill-net fishing and hunting are all factors that made this duck vanish completely from the lake. The last record of multiple birds at Lake Alaotra is from 9 June 1960 when a small flock of about 20 birds was spotted on the lake. Despite the rarity of the species in 1960, a male was shot, and the specimen is now held by the Zoological Museum Amsterdam. There is a very dubious report of a sighting made outside Antananarivo in 1970.
However, a flock of nine adults and four recently-hatched ducklings were discovered at a lake in a remote area of northern Madagascar in November 2006.
A rescue plan involving the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust
and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
removed a batch of ready-to-hatch eggs from a lake-side nest and incubated in a lab that was set up in a tent by the side of the lake. The day-old chicks were then taken to a holding facility.
It was placed in the new "Possibly Extinct" category in the 2006 IUCN Red List
; following the rediscovery, its old status of Critically Endangered was restored in the 2007 issue.
Diving duck
The diving ducks, commonly called pochards or scaups, are a category of duck which feed by diving beneath the surface of the water. They are part of the diverse and very large Anatidae family that includes ducks, geese, and swans....
of the genus Aythya
Aythya
Aythya is a genus of diving ducks. It has twelve described species.Aythya shihuibas was described from the Late Miocene of China. An undescribed prehistoric species is known only from Early Pleistocene fossil remains found at Dursunlu, Turkey; it might however be referrable to a paleosubspecies of...
, previously thought extinct. Prior to a rediscovery in 2006, the last confirmed sighting of the species was at Lake Alaotra
Lake Alaotra
Lake Alaotra is the largest lake in Madagascar, located in Toamasina Province, in the northern central plateau. Its basin is composed of shallow freshwater lakes and marshes surrounded by areas of dense vegetation. It forms the center of the island's most important rice-growing region...
on the Central Plateau of Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
in 1991. The single male then encountered was captured and kept in the Antananarivo
Antananarivo
Antananarivo , formerly Tananarive , is the capital and largest city in Madagascar. It is also known by its French colonial shorthand form Tana....
Botanical Gardens until its death one year later. Only 20 individuals remain.
The threats and the decline
Based on the accounts written by Webb and Delacour's in the 1920s and 1930s it seemed that the bird was still relatively common at Lake Alaotra (these accounts also give an idea just how much the Lake Alaotra region has changed).This bird probably started to decline dramatically sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s and the cause of decline was the introduction of numerous fish species in the lake, they killed most of the pochard chicks; nesting sites as well as adult birds are also likely to have become victims of introduced fishes. Rice cultivation, cattle grazing on the shores, burning of shore vegetation, introduced mammals (rats), gill-net fishing and hunting are all factors that made this duck vanish completely from the lake. The last record of multiple birds at Lake Alaotra is from 9 June 1960 when a small flock of about 20 birds was spotted on the lake. Despite the rarity of the species in 1960, a male was shot, and the specimen is now held by the Zoological Museum Amsterdam. There is a very dubious report of a sighting made outside Antananarivo in 1970.
Recent searches and rediscovery
Intensive searches and publicity campaigns in 1989-1990, 1993-1994 and 2000-2001 failed to produce any more records of this bird.However, a flock of nine adults and four recently-hatched ducklings were discovered at a lake in a remote area of northern Madagascar in November 2006.
A rescue plan involving the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust is a conservation organisation with a mission to save species from extinction.Gerald Durrell founded the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust as a charitable institution in 1963 with the Dodo as its symbol...
and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust is a wildfowl and wetland conservation charity in the United Kingdom. Its patron is Queen Elizabeth II.It was founded in 1946 by the ornithologist and artist Sir Peter Scott, initially as the Severn Wildfowl Trust...
removed a batch of ready-to-hatch eggs from a lake-side nest and incubated in a lab that was set up in a tent by the side of the lake. The day-old chicks were then taken to a holding facility.
It was placed in the new "Possibly Extinct" category in the 2006 IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
; following the rediscovery, its old status of Critically Endangered was restored in the 2007 issue.