By ANNE BESTON and AGENCIES
New Zealand's unique, river-dwelling duck is in serious trouble says the World Conservation Union in its latest extinction ratings.
According to this year's redlist of threatened species published by the union, the blue duck (whio) has jumped from threatened to endangered.
There are thought to be about
400 pairs left, with a very high proportion of males - a gender skew that leaves the birds vulnerable to extinction.
Whio populations were severely fragmented, said the union, and they had disappeared from former habitats in the Tararua Ranges, Pirongia, Mamaku Plateau, Central Otago, Kaikoura and the Richmond and Kaimai Ranges.
"We are losing the battle to save whio and other bird species," said New Zealand Forest and Bird conservation manager Eric Pyle.
"Unless there is concerted action in the next few years to save whio, the remaining populations will disappear."
Whio are one of New Zealand's ancient native birds, and share their river-dwelling lifestyle with just three of the world's waterfowl species.
They have a distinctive blue-grey plumage and dark, speckled chestnut chest. The males' characteristic whistling sound means they are sometimes dubbed the whistling duck.
While other duck species leave raising the young to the female, the blue duck male helps to guard the ducklings and whio probably mate for life.
This year the union lists 11,167 plants and animals as threatened with extinction, an increase of 121 since 2000.
The nomadic Saiga antelope, the wild Bactrian camel and the Ethiopian water mouse are on the brink of disappearing for good.
The redlist is produced by a network of 7000 experts working in almost every country in the world. They have found that 811 species have disappeared over the past 500 years, some entirely, and others survive only in captivity.
Five species have been added to the union's extinct list over the past two years.
The organisation has examined some 18,000 species and subspecies around the globe. However, scientists admit that even a study of this magnitude only scratches the surface.
Earth is home to an estimated 14 million species, but only 1.75 million have been documented.
Many may become extinct before they are even identified, much less studied by scientists.
Red list of threatened species
Further reading
nzherald.co.nz/environment
