At Olinda, It's All in the Family

posted in: April 1991 | 0

On June 11, 1988, Ho`oku hatched at the Olinda Endangered Species Facility. The chick is the offspring of Lu`ukia, an 11-year-old female, and Kalani, a 7-year-old male. Kalani is also the son of Lu`ukia, making Lu`ukia both mother and grandmother to Ho`oku.

For Ho`oku, future mating options are limited. She can be paired with her uncle and half-brother Keawe (brother of her father, Kalani; son of her mother Lu`ukia). She can be paired with her cousin-brother Ho`ike (they share the same mother and father as well as the same grandparents). She can be paired with Kinohi, who is a cousin (son of Uncle Keawe). From a geneticist’s standpoint, the best mate might be 14-year-old Umi, patriarch of the captive clan and Ho`oku’s grandfather (father of Kalani).

In any event, this year, the question of pairing Ho`oku is moot. Both Ho`ike, class of ’89, and Kinohi, class of ’90, are still immature. And although some precocious `alala have been known to breed as young as two years, Ho`oku is slow to mature. This year she, Ho`ike and Kinohi are all sitting out the dance– “unemployed,” to use the biologists’ term, in the service of carrying on the species.

‘Witchcraft and Experience’

Such is the genealogy of the captive `alala flock. The six males are all related to each other. The relations of the five females are less well known; four were born in the wild (two are thought to be siblings).

All in all, the birds have not shown themselves to be stellar producers. Some of the males have displayed hostility to their mates, preferring the company of humans. As for the females — if they were laying hens, at least a couple of them would have been chicken soup long ago.

Cynthia Kuehler, a reproduction specialist with the San Diego Zoo, visited the Olinda facility last fall to study the low rate of “chick production.” Of some 70 eggs laid by the captive flock between 1979 and 1990, six chicks hatched and survived. Kuehler admitted the imperfect state of the science of raising non-domestic species of birds in captivity. “Aviculturists and zoo biologists must rely on the poultry literature, witchcraft and experience when developing hatching protocols for exotic bird eggs,” she wrote.

Despite uncertainties over the finer points (incubator temperature, diet, and the like), Kuehler’s primary recommendation was clear: “bring in new genetic stock from the wild.” “It is unlikely,” she wrote, “given the poor hatchability in the captive population, that there is sufficient founder stock at Olinda to establish a self-sustaining population. In general, the captive husbandry for Hawaiian crows at the Olinda Endangered Species Facility is very good. But even the best captive propagation techniques available cannot improve hatchability success in eggs from inbred birds that do not have a good ‘hatchability potential.'”

Volume 1, Number 10 April 1991

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