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Written by David Butler & Don Merton with foreword by His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
I am often asked whether there have been any significant success stories in the conservation of nature. The case of the Chatham Island black robin must be one of the most dramatic stories of the rescue of a wild animal species from almost certain extinction. The black robin may not be one of the big or cuddly creatures that make the news, but the field teams involved in this project deserve great credit for completing this difficult and challenging task with such success.
I have not doubt that the description of the details of the techniques employed in this project will help those who are attempting to save other species, but probably more interesting for the general reader will be information about the reasons which very nearly brought about the extinction of this species. Change of habitat as a result of human activities is one, but the introduction of various animals from other countries into New Zealand has had even more devastating consequences. There are many lessons to be learnt from this book, but the most important is that introducing wild or domestic species into different eco-systems invariably spells disaster for many of the native species.
Available at Hotel Chatham, P. O. Box 3, Chatham Islands 8942 - $45.00 includes postage
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