26 Feb 2004

Call for more to be done to save native birds on Guam after two species declared extinct

5:34 pm on 26 February 2004

A biologist from the US Fish and Wildlife Service says work needs to be done on eradicating invasive species if native birds on Guam are to be saved.

This week two native birds, the Mariana Mallard and the Guam Broadbill were declared extinct.

Fred Amidon says they are the first birds to be declared extinct on Guam.

Mr Amidon says there are currently 13 birds on the Guam endangered list and he says measures need to be carried out to protect them.

"For the Broadbill anyway it really highlights the introduced invasive species issues for islands like Guam with the introduced brown tree snake. The brown tree snake is still a problem there. There's still a couple of birds that are endangered and really controlling and eradicating the brown tree snake has to be done in order for those to be recovered and taken off the list. So it highlights how important the invasive species issue is."

Fred Amidon from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.