Translocation of Ultramarine Lories Vini ultramarina in the Marquesas Islands: Ua Huka to Fatu Hiva

Abstract

SummaryThe Ultramarine Lory (Ultramarine Lorikeet, Marquesas Lorikeet, Pihiti) Vini ultramarina is one of the most threatened insular Lory species. Endemic to the Marquesas Islands, where it probably once ranged throughout the archipelago, it has been nearly extirpated from all but the tiny island of Ua Huka. Given the vulnerability of a single population inhabiting one small island, and the decline of the species in recent years, establishment of the Ultramarine Lory on another less disturbed island within its historic range has been proposed as a conservation strategy. This paper describes a 1991 survey evaluating the status of the Ultramarine Lory in the Marquesas Islands, and three subsequent translocations of birds from the island of Ua Huka to the island of Fatu Hiva. Twenty-nine birds were relocated during the period from 1992 to 1994 at the request of the Delegation de L'Environnement, French Polynesia. A preliminary survey, prior to the third translocation, indicates that previously transferred birds are surviving and may be reproducing; an intensive survey is planned in 1997.