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Post by sebbe67 on Mar 19, 2005 12:35:44 GMT
The first of the next generation of the world's rarest insect hatched yesterday at Melbourne Zoo, following a daring rescue mission earlier this year from a giant rock near Lord Howe Island.
The Lord Howe Island stick insect, once common on the island, had been presumed extinct for more than 80 years after black rats made their way onto the island from a grounded ship in 1918.
In 2001 a scientific expedition assembled by the NPWS discovered a tiny colony of the animals surviving precariously on Balls Pyramid, a 550 metre-high rock, 23 km south-west of Lord Howe Island.
Outside the captive breeding programs, the only known colony is surviving in incredibly harsh conditions under a single melaleuca bush which provides both food and cover for the entire species. It's a relief to know it's possible to breed them in safer conditions," Mr Carlile said.
"The ultimate goal is to create the conditions which will make it possible for us to reintroduce the species onto Lord Howe Island."
Mr Carlile said the 2 cm nymph insect had hatched from an egg about the size of a pea.
Melbourne Zoo is working in close co-operation with the NPWS, which is co-ordinating the rescue efforts for this extremely endangered invertebrate species.
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Post by Peter on Apr 16, 2005 10:48:57 GMT
Luckily! They do! Hopefully this rediscovered species will not become 'extinct' again!
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Post by Melanie on Jun 19, 2006 16:19:19 GMT
Lord, look Howe you've grown
By PAUL STEWART
18jun06
A RARE, black, stick-thin insect is expected to be Melbourne Zoo's star attraction during the school holidays.
The Lord Howe Island stick insect, which scientists have dated back to when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, was thought to have become extinct about 80 years ago.
But the insect was rediscovered recently and is part of a successful breeding program at the zoo.
Zoo spokeswoman Judith Henke said two adult insects were brought to Melbourne and the zoo's breeding program had produced another 53.
The Lord Howe Island stick insect's usual habitat is on the side of a mountain on Lord Howe Island, 700km northeast of Sydney.
It was thought the insect had been wiped out by escaped rats after the supply ship, Mokambo, ran ashore in 1918.
The 15cm glossy black creatures will be part of the zoo's Bugs on the Brink school holiday display, with children's activities from 10.30am-3pm each day
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Post by Melanie on Dec 21, 2008 14:35:06 GMT
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Post by Peter on Dec 24, 2008 20:17:38 GMT
Indeed a conservation success story! Good news that they want to release this animal back into the wild on Lord Howe. They say it takes still 3 years to eradicate the existing rats (the reason of their extinction on Lord Howe). Only they they will release them again.
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Post by Melanie on Mar 1, 2012 14:06:43 GMT
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Post by surroundx on Jun 29, 2012 11:09:36 GMT
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Post by surroundx on Nov 25, 2012 14:04:04 GMT
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Post by surroundx on May 24, 2014 4:46:38 GMT
Last recorded in 1920. Although officially rediscovered in February 2001 (Macey, 2001), its existence on Balls Pyramid was reported in 1969 (Smithers, 1969) in the form of one or more dead specimens found in a bird's nest. It was used as bait by fisherman. Believed to have become extinct when black rats came ashore from a ship wreck in 1918.
References:
ANZECC Endangered Fauna Network 2002. Dryococelus australis. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 24 May 2014.
Macey, R. (2001). Joy as ancient 'walking sausage' found alive. Sydney Morning Herald 13 Feb, 2001.
Smithers, C. N. (1969). On some remains of the Lord Howe Island phasmid (Dryococelus australis (Montrouzier)) (Phasmida) from Ball's pyramid. Entomology Monthly Magazine 105: 252.
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Post by surroundx on May 24, 2014 4:48:20 GMT
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Post by surroundx on Feb 1, 2015 7:56:32 GMT
A great animated film about the rediscovery of the LHI stick insect:
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Post by surroundx on Sept 23, 2015 10:39:35 GMT
Cleave, Rohan and Tulloch, Coral. (2015). Phasmid: Saving the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect. Clayton South: CSIRO Publishing. [ Google preview] |
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Post by koeiyabe on Dec 5, 2015 1:29:07 GMT
  "Lost Animals (in Japanese)" by WWF Japan (1996) |
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Post by Melanie on Jan 12, 2016 1:58:16 GMT
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Post by Melanie on Jan 28, 2016 14:03:39 GMT
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Post by surroundx on Mar 18, 2016 12:52:06 GMT
Critically endangered Lord Howe Island Stick insect nymphs begin first molt at the San Diego ZooZoo Entomologists Estimate 10 of the 73 Nymphs Have Shed their Exoskeleton A captive breeding program for the critically endangered Lord Howe Island stick insect—or tree lobster—has been underway at the San Diego Zoo for just one month, and it is already hitting milestones. The Entomology department is caring for the first 73 nymphs that have hatched from 300 eggs the Zoo received on January 29, 2016. Entomologists are also preparing as the oldest nymphs complete their first instar, the growth period that occurs between molts. Molting is accomplished by shedding their exoskeleton—the protective covering around their bodies. Read more: www.arklatexhomepage.com/news/local-news/critically-endangered-lord-howe-island-stick-insect-nymphs-begin-first-molt-at-the-san-diego-zoo
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Post by Melanie on Sept 2, 2016 19:33:37 GMT
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Post by surroundx on Dec 17, 2016 7:29:05 GMT
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Post by surroundx on May 8, 2017 14:22:33 GMT
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Post by surroundx on Jun 2, 2017 11:30:26 GMT
The Lord Howe Island stick insect that came back from the deadThis story starts in 1918, when the steam ship Makambo came to grief off Lord Howe Island. It was a clear evening, and an unclouded moon shone down on calm waters of the Tasman Sea. There was no reason to fear for life or limb, of man or rodent. Unhappily, the captain of the SS Makambo was ill with whooping cough, and at the exact moment he should have been giving an order to avoid a reef he was instead suffering a "fainting fit". The first officer found him cataleptic on the floor, but the critical moment had passed and it was too late to avert disaster. The ship hit the reef so hard the crew were thrown from their feet. And as the ship's horn blew long and loud to attract the aid of the islanders, those on board were flung hither and thither in the rolling waves atop the reef. It took 10 days to repair the ship, and when the SS Makambo set sail, a stowaway stayed behind: rattus rattus, the rattiest of all rats. Starting from the shoreline, the rodents slunk and snuck and ducked into a rat utopia. Read more: www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-02/lord-howe-island-stick-insect-that-came-back-from-the-dead/8579182?WT.tsrc=Facebook
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