Hawaii - The Sugar Birds Beneath The Volcano (119/268)

Hawaii - The Sugar Birds Beneath The Volcano (119/268)

Many animal species, which are to be found nowhere else in the world, were able to survive on the Hawaii islands. This applies particularly to the group of the Drepanidinae, the so-called sugar birds. Of the 33 different species which once existed only 10 now remain. These birds had no enemies, they lived in peace. But explorers from distant lands brought mosquitoes, rats and cats with them on their ships. A kind of bird malaria spread, as did smallpox. And the birds who had never had to learn to defend themselves were easy prey for the rats and cats. In the Volcano National Park the attempt is now being made to protect the remaining species and to increase their numbers. Research in process is studying how fast a species can recover when its enemies have been removed from a certain area. In another enclosure the rats and cats have been left as they were and the birds are being trained to cope with them - a kind of survival training.

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