The second year of translocating Laysan Albatross eggs to create a new colony is underway

ACAP Latest News has reported on progress with an innovative attempt to establish a new breeding colony of Laysan Albatrosses Phoebastria immutabilis on the Hawaiian island of Oahu by artificially incubating eggs from Kauai, then hand-rearing the chicks to fledging (click here).

A candled Laysan Albatross egg ready for artifical incubation, photograph from Pacific Rim Conservation

In the first year of the translocation project 10 hand-reared birds successfully fledged from the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge.   The second year of the project is now underway and at last available report from Pacific Rim Conservation which is leading the exercise five eggs have already hatched, with another 31 close to hatching.  As in the previous season the chicks will be hand-reared at the refuge.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 08 February 2016