A pair of rare birds at New Zealand's Zealandia Nature Reserve, considered sterile, have unexpectedly hatched their first chicks, RNZ reports.
The parents are part of the takahe family, a wingless bird considered critically endangered. The male, named Bendigo, and the female, named Whyaa, were brought to the reserve two years ago as "non-breeding" birds, after the male had previously shown fertility problems. "We thought these birds were incapable of producing young," admitted Joe Ledington, the reserve's general manager of conservation.
But in November, staff, alarmed by the absence of the female at feeding time, discovered a newly hatched chick in the nest. The arrival of this new bird is crucial for the recovery of the takahe population, of which only about 500 individuals remain. The chick, whose sex is still unknown, is currently living in a part of the reserve closed to visitors. Staff kept the happy news a secret for several weeks, protecting the chick from the cold and wet weather to which takahe chicks are particularly vulnerable.