Many species on this planet have suffered more than enough from human impact. Now, two species have finally regenerated enough to no longer be classified as threatened or endangered. These species are the Australian humpback whale and the North Island Brown kiwi bird.
Because of their inability to fly, kiwi chicks are extremely vulnerable in the wild and have only a five percent chance of survival. By protecting kiwi eggs and raising baby kiwis in captivity before letting them back into the wild, the bird population has grown to over 20 000 individuals. Before this, the species had been classified as “at-risk – declining.”
“There’s still a huge battle to be fought, but this is hugely encouraging,” said Hugh Robertson, chief science advisor of the Department of Conservation.
After many years under the threat of extinction, the Australian humpback whale has recovered and has now been taken off the endangered species list. This is thanks to the push for animal conservation which began back in the 1980s.
Sussan Ley, Environment Minister in Australia, decided to take the species off the list because of positive findings of research conducted by the Australian Threatened Species Scientific Committee.
“It’s really encouraging to see a strong conservation story lead to a species actually coming off that list,” she said.
Even though the humpback whale is safe for now, this victory still has to be fought for for it to be maintained. In Australia, the animal is still protected by law (under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation). As My Modern Met wrote, saving and protecting them should remain a priority: but any good news is great news!
Linn Winge
