Source : The Star, Malaysia, 11 Jan '05
By : Hilary Chiew
  

In 1989, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) sent the first Malaysian peacock pheasant (Polyplectron malacense) to Britain as part of an offshore gene pool for the future. Some Mountain peacock pheasants (Polyplectron inopinatum) followed in 1992.

“At that time, there was considerable difficulty in trying to breed both species in captivity and it was felt that WPA’s expertise in propagation might assist the department. Incubators were donated to Perhilitan and training workshops were conducted so that parallel breeding programmes could continue,” says Gary Robbins, chairman of WPA’s Taxon Advisory Group which coordinates the captive breeding programmes of endangered pheasants.

“All the birds in the UK Britain are held on loan, in trust with WPA with a clear understanding that there will be no commercial involvement of any kind.”

Perhilitan research director Siti Hawa Yatim says the ex situ conservation plan for the Malaysian peacock pheasant started in 1992 with four pairs of birds at the Sungkai wildlife breeding centre in Perak.

“Now, there are over 60 birds in captive breeding and they’re doing well. Off-springs of those sent out on loan would be returned to us,” says Siti Hawa.

A release programme for the Malaysian peacock pheasant is also being planned. The released birds will be radio-collared so that their progress can be monitored.

WPA’s experience with the Malaysian peacock pheasant shows that it is much harder to breed compared to other pheasants as it lays just one egg. Males have a tendency to die off easily despite being in prime breeding condition.

Robbins says there has been a lot of research into the survival of released game pheasants which has provided pointers for the re-introduction of other endangered pheasant species. In the past 30 years, there have been other release programmes involving Cheer pheasants in Pakistan (1980s) and Mikado pheasants in Taiwan (1970s).

“Whilst these two programmes were not fully successful, the findings have provided important information to assist other projects elsewhere. In Himachal Pradesh in northern India, there are three large re-introduction projects involving the Western tragopan, Cheer pheasant and Himalayan Monal. A species from Guan (a genus of the pheasant family) was successfully re-introduced in South America recently, as was a species of Megapode in Indonesia.”

WPA is a charity dedicated to the conservation of Galliformes or game birds of the world. These include the approximately 49 different species of pheasants, of which more than half are threatened with extinction.

Pheasants can be regarded as “flagship” species; if they can be found in their natural habitat, it is likely that other species there will also be able to survive.

WPA strives to manage captive stocks effectively, designing breeding programmes to maintain genetic diversity and support international studbooks. It has also become very effective at developing strategies for the successful re-introduction of endangered species to their countries of origin. These birds are also released into protected areas in the wild. Sometimes captive bred birds from Britain are returned to countries like India and Vietnam so that birds do not have to be taken from the wild.