Three snow-white Balinese mynas throw flowing ridges back and forth across a branch, flowing and looking around with distinctive blue spots on their eyes that capture sunlight. A few minutes later, another four arrived-a view two decades ago in the wild, impossible.
But by working with bird breeders and sellers—the group that has contributed to critically endangered birds—conservationists in Bali have released them in hopes of expanding their wild populations. Experts say more research and surveillance are needed, but the conservation model has proved promising over the past 10 years and could be replicated for other vulnerable birds in Indonesia.
The Bali mynah has been a sought-after collector’s item in the international cowboy trade for over a century due to its beautiful white feathers and vocals. The capture of birds for sale, combined with habitat loss due to land conversion to agriculture, resulted in the bird being designated as “endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 1988 and promoted to “critically endangered” in 1994.In 2001, experts estimated that only about six Balinese miners lived in the wild, thousands of whom were caught worldwide.
The NGO, now called BirdLife International, teamed up with the government to launch a prison breeding programme in the 1980s in recognition of Indonesia’s deep-rooted bird culture and the urgent need to maintain it.
Breeders can apply for a permit to breed birds. If approved, the government will give them mynah and will be allowed to keep 90% of the children for private sale. The remaining birds were rehabilitated and released into West Bali National Park, where they were inspected by the park’s authorities. The approach to nature conservation is in line with Indonesian culture, where birds often sit in cages and people rely on the bird market for their income, said Tom Squires, a Ph.D. candidate at Manchester Metropolitan University, who is studying in Bali. mynah ecology and other endangered birds in Indonesia.
“The national park is beginning to understand and… it is creating conditions where you can have a wild population that is still thriving,” Squires said. “Bird hunters can still watch the birds and pursue their hobbies without causing real problems for the wild population—which is even better than species that have already become extinct in the world.”
The early release of mynah was plagued by problems: some birds were infected with a parasite causing high mortality, and others were killed by natural predators. Poaching also continued — and the national park’s captive breeding facility was even robbed at gunpoint, with nearly 40 birds stolen.
Yet conservation efforts in the last decade have seen greater success through increased monitoring of the birds, stronger census data, and more research, said Squires.
Agus Ngurah Krisna Kepakisan, the head of the West Bali National Park, also attributes the success of the breeding programme to the creation and proliferation of “buffer villages” around the park. Villagers get assistance in obtaining permits to breed Bali mynahs there. “With the community being the breeders… they help us take care of birds that are in the wild,” he said. Some are constantly looking for and obtaining Bali mynah from the wild. “
Squires said there is clear evidence that some released birds produce offspring. “That’s why I’m convinced that the population is self-sufficient to some extent,” he said.
