5 more alala released in conservation effort

Five more alala were released into the wilderness near Hilo last week, joining the six young Hawaiian crows that were introduced to the forest there at the end of September.

State officials announced earlier this week that a second group of two females and three males was released into the Pu’u Maka’ala Natural Area Reserve Oct. 11.

Together, the 11 birds represent what conservationists hope will be the start of a wild population that hasn’t been seen in the forest since 2002.

The four females and seven males are being monitored daily using tracking telemetry and transmitters.

The reintroduction effort, a project of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, San Diego Zoo Global and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, plans to release a dozen birds per year over the next three to five years.

The project’s first release in late 2016 was aborted after two birds were fatally attacked by Hawaiian hawks and one didn’t survive a winter storm.

The rest of the birds were brought back into captivity, and officials devised a new strategy that included changing the timing of release to avoid the peak of winter storms, changing the release site location, releasing mixed-sex groups with established social associations and conducting more rigorous anti-predator training to help them deal with predators like the Hawaiian hawk, or io.

“The first group has stayed together, foraging close to the release aviary and creating social groups with each other similar to what we expect for young birds of this species,” Joshua Pang-Ching, research coordinator for the Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program, said in a news release Monday.

“We also observed some alarm calling showing us that these individuals are very aware of their surroundings and are learning to respond to the natural threats that may occur in their environment,” he said.

About 125 alala are housed in conservation centers operated by San Diego Zoo Global on Maui and the Big Island.