Extremely rare parrot chick born at UK zoo offers ‘glimmer of hope’ for endangered species
Mitchell’s lorikeet is estimated to have a population of fewer than 50 left in the wild
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An extremely rare baby bird has been born at a zoo in the UK.
The news has been called a “glimmer of hope” for a species of parrot which is estimated to have a population of fewer than 50 left in the wild.
Paignton zoo in Devon announced the birth of a baby Mitchell’s lorikeet on Thursday.
It said the chick was discovered on the site on Boxing Day and zookeepers had been monitoring its progress since then.
The zoo said the parrot species was one of the rarest it looks after.
The animals are native to Lomok, an island in Indonesia where the only remaining members of the species are estimated to live.
Zoos around the world are thought to house under 200 Mitchell’s lorikeets.
Paignton zoo said the hatching of the baby chick was a step towards helping halt species decline.
It “provides a glimmer of hope for Mitchell’s lorikeet as a species”, the zoo said.
The discovery came a month after conservationists elsewhere in the UK successfully hatched two red-billed curassow chicks - one of the world’s rarest bird species.
Chester zoo also launched a rescue mission in December after two species of snail thought to be extinct were discovered on a remote island in the Atlantic ocean.
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