Other Islands Eyed for Endangered Laysan Ducks

One of the world’s most endangered waterfowl, the Laysan duck has so surpassed survival expectations on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in Hawaii that wildlife biologists are evaluating other sites suitable for launching new populations of the birds.

Although fossils of Laysan ducks have been found on several islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, they are not endemic to Midway but rather have existed for the past century exclusively on the remote Laysan Island, part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge. While their population has always been fragile, drought and disease in the early 1990s nearly drove them into extinction, leaving fewer than 50 ducks, said John Klavitter, wildlife biologist with Midway Atoll Refuge.

To preserve the species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey, in October 2004 moved 20 of ducks from Laysan Island to Midway Atoll – thus creating “safety net” if one population were to be destroyed. After a successful breeding season, an additional 22 ducks were moved the following October, and a new batch of 56 fledglings survived, bringing the total population of Laysan ducks on Midway to 104. Klavitter estimates the population on Midway Atoll Refuge could double by next year and eventually match the numbers on Laysan Island, which are at an all-time high of 600.

Given the overall goal of removing the Laysan duck from the endangered list, scientists are considering other suitable locations for relocating the ducks, possibly within the next two years, Klavitter said. Frontrunners are Kure, a state-owned atoll 60 miles northwest of Midway, and Lisianski, part of the Hawaiian Islands Refuge Complex.

Contact: Barbara Maxfield, (808) 792-9540. (Note: additional information and photographs are available, but due to the lack of transportation, no on-site visits can be accommodated.)