Captive‐breeding and reintroduction project for the Milky stork Mycteriu cinerea: at Zoo Negara, Malaysia

Abstract

A young group of Milky stork Mycteria cinerea, a threatened species listed on CITES Appendix I, was acquired by chance by Zoo Negara in 1987 and a captive‐breeding and reintroduction project attempted. Two pairs nested and laid eggs in their third year, earlier than expected, and one pair hatched two clutches, both of two chicks. The colony nested successfully in 1990 when some of the earlier clutches were taken for artificial incubation. Among the problems which have been overcome were loss of chicks through incorrect feeding, the collapse of the nest tree, weakening of pair bonds, possibly because of egg manipulation to encourage double clutching, and severe storm damage to the aviary with the total loss of eight storks. Six birds joined the Zoo's free‐flying colony of Painted storks Myrteria leucocephala. confirming the Zoo's expectation that released birds would remain near to their release site. and 21 storks were recovered. The Zoo is confident that the original reintroduction plan is feasible if the proposed release site can be secured and sufficient finance found to construct breeding/release cages on site.