BirdLife International’s Rare Bird Club have set up a website grenadadovecampaign.com where information can be found on the proposed development of a Four Seasons' luxury resort on one of the last remaining refuges for the Critically Endangered Grenada Dove Leptotila wellsi on the Caribbean island of Ganada (29.01.2007). Click here for more background information.


ACTION ALERT: Please support this campaign and write a letter to the people making these decisions - follow the links on the site.

The first White-throated Ground Dove (Gallicolumba xanthonura) to be hatched in captivity did so at the Louisville Zoo on October 17, 2006 after an eighteen day incubation; a second dove hatched on December 1, 2006 and is also thriving. While not officially listed as Endangered, the White-throated Ground Dove is considered a species of concern because it is rare and has a very small range.  There are only 16 of these birds in captivity.  The Louisville Zoo leads the effort to conserve this species at the request of the Department of Fish and Wildlife, Saipan, Micronesia, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Pigeon and Dove Taxon Advisory Group. The Zoo’s Bird Department staff are currently working with partners at the Memphis and St. Louis zoos to develop a long-term captive management protocol for the species (Lousiville Zoo 17.01.2007).

The EU Commission has announced that the ban on imports of birds caught in the wild is to be made permanent throughout the European Union later this year. The move comes after a temporary ban was imposed within the EU in October 2005, after birds in a UK quarantine centre were found to have avian influenza. “We fully applaud the decision made by the EU Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health.” said Dr Clairie Papazoglou, Head of European Division at BirdLife International. “Banning the imports of birds caught in the wild is great news for bird conservation, even though the ruling has been made to limit the spread of disease, and not to conserve species. Only if laws are made on the basis of conservation can we have more confidence in protecting those species that are threatened by trade.” The ban is to take effect from the 1 July 2007. Trapping for the international bird trade has been identified as a contributory factor in the threat status of one in twenty threatened and near-threatened bird species (BirdLife 12-01-2007).

The Socorro Dove Leptotila wellsi became extinct in the wild more than 30 years ago in its home in a remote Pacific island chain 600 miles west of the Mexican coast. Fewer than 100 adult birds now exist in captivity around the world, but in 2007 it is to be reintroduced to Socorro following a successful breeding programme. Birds from a range of zoos across the world are expected to make up the first 20 to be taken back to their natural home for release under a European Association of Zoos and Aquaria programme. will be released first into specially constructed aviaries to adapt to island conditions. Once acclimatised they will be set free to attempt to form a new breeding colony (Scotsman 24.12.2006).