Zoo Experts Hatch Eight Rare Dove Chicks In Bid To Save Extinct Species

Zoo Experts Hatch Eight Rare Dove Chicks In Bid To Save Extinct Species

Zoo Experts Hatch Eight Rare Dove Chicks In Bid To Save Extinct Species The Socorro dove chicks – credit, Chester Zoo SWNS Conservationists have successfully hatched 8chicks in a bid to save an ultra-rare species of dove which has been extinct in the wild for over half a century. Socorro doves are only cared for in zoo conservation-breeding programs across Europe and North America after they became extinct in 1972. Experts at the Chester Zoo are now celebrating the arrival of 8 chicks, known as squabs, bringing fresh hope the species can be brought back from the brink. Approximately 200 birds represent the entire surviving population and the zoo hopes another clutch of eggs might now also be on the way. Chester Zoo cares for two breeding pairs and the chicks will bolster the insurance population of Socorro doves looked after by avian specialists. “We have several chicks which have successfully reached independence, and the others are on the verge of being fledged,” said the zoo’s Clare Rafe,…