The Cornish Chough Dilemma – what should we do?

The background

In May 2001 five chough mysteriously appeared and settled on the Cornish coast. It is possible that the closure of the footpaths as a result of the foot & mouth crisis played a part in the birds return, as disturbance would have been negligible. The five birds remained in the county for some time.

By early 2002 only two or three birds were noted. Were these the five birds now split into two groups or a pair with a hanger on? By the time the breeding season had started only three birds seemed to be present in the Lizard area, the pair and a singleton.

Reports of a single bird further a field within Cornwall seem most likely to have been the singleton, as more and more the pair alone were observed at the Lizard.

The pair successfully fledged three chicks in 2002 – the first Choughs to have been bred in the wild in Cornwall for almost 50 years. Measurements of the chicks in the nest revealed all three chicks to be male. Towards the end of 2002 three adults were again noted at the Lizard together with the three chicks.

The worry:

Three adults and three male chicks do not make a sustainable population without further recruitment of new birds. There is no proven evidence of any further recruitment of birds since the initial influx of five birds in 2001 – indeed there is a net loss of two potential founder individuals since that time.

The options:

Do nothing. Allow nature to take its course and treat it as an “experiment in natural re-colonisation”.Take positive steps to support and augment the existing birds.

The basic arguments for and against:

Option 1

• Is an unrivalled opportunity to observe natural forces at work.
• Runs a substantial risk of losing the best chance to establish the species within Cornwall for nearly half a century.

Option 2

• Has the potential to immediately bolster the existing flock by providing more birds and hence more genetic diversity.
• Has the potential to address the male high bias in the current flock, by releasing a higher percentage of females.
• Might not work.

The debate:

Over the last few months there has been considerable debate as to how to best ensure that the CORNISH Chough continues to thrive in the county. On 9th October 2002 a special meeting was convened to discuss Chough in general and this question in particular.

The meeting was chaired by Dr.Roger Wilkinson (Head of Conservation & Science at the North of England Zoological Society), and delegates included representatives from the RSPB (both locally and nationally), English Nature, Zoological Society of London, Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and Operation Chough / Paradise Park.

The meeting was, at times, quite heated as strong cases were put forward in support of both the options. The meeting ended with an agreement to reconvene in late January or early February. This would allow us to see how the Lizard birds had fared over the worst of the winter. Would they remain on the coast or move further inland, if so to where? Would they remain as a group or would they disperse?

The unilateral decision:

In late November the delegates to the meeting were sent an e-mail from the RSPB representative at the October meeting, it read:

 "… with regard to the wild choughs currently in Cornwall, we are taking the line adopted by English Nature, that we would not support the introduction of captive birds to augment the wild population. The arguments for and against were debated at some length at the meeting, so I won't repeat them here."

This same RSPB representative had previously stated at the October meeting that even amongst the RSPB staff at their headquarters, opinions were divided over the available options. How and why did they come to this decision?

Our contention:

We feel very strongly that the RSPB and EN decision is not in the best interest of securing a long-term chough population within Cornwall. We would argue, that to provide support to the existing birds, by the introduction of readily available captive birds to a second Cornish location, would greatly enhance the chances of long term success.

To do nothing, could end in losing the unique advantage, which these birds on the Lizard have given us. They have local knowledge; the youngsters have a natal affinity to the area, but just suppose the breeding female, the only hen amongst the six birds (at best she is one of two), is lost, then what? Then everyone will want females released in Cornwall – but it will be too late.

There are precedents for this type of support; the Mauritian Kestrel, the Pink Pigeon, the Echo Parakeet, the Laysan Teal, The Ne-ne Goose. All of these species still exist thanks to active support of wild populations using captive birds; some like the Mauritian Kestrel even made specific use of deliberately imprinted individuals. Admittedly these were globally threatened species, not locally threatened, as is the case with the chough in Cornwall. However, the Red Kite and the White tailed Sea Eagle programmes are examples of locally threatened species that got a supporting hand, interestingly they were programmes initiated by the RSPB and English Nature.

The wider debate:

• We would welcome opinions from the Cornish people. Should we sit back and do nothing, or should we roll up our sleeves and do something?
• What exactly is “a natural experiment”?
• Is it natural if the habitat has been extensively managed – albeit to the chough’s advantage?
• The captive birds are available, why not use them?

The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) criteria for re-establishment have been met.

Suitable locations exist in Cornwall for such a release. Locations that will allow released birds and existing birds to link around the Cornish coast.

Researchers are ready and willing to monitor the birds through radio telemetry.

What could go wrong?

Well there is the question. In truth any number of things. No one wants to be associated with failure, it does not look good on your c.v! We do not think it will go wrong. There may be hiccups along the way but in the end we are confident that it will succeed. We are also not afraid to fail. Better to have done something and failed, than to have done nothing and failed.

If nothing had been done to support the Echo Parakeet the Mauritian Kestrel et.al. those species would not now exist – a tribute to those people that did something.

David Woolcock - Curator Paradise Park December 2002

Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary, Hayle Cornwall TR27 4HB, UK
www.paradisepark.org.uk