July 13, 2010 Fewer males than females are surviving the
negative effects of inbreeding in a reintroduced population of a
rare New Zealand bird, reports new research published in
Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Studying a population of the
endangered New Zealand Hihi, researchers from the Zoological
Society of London found that male survival rate was 24 per cent
lower than their female siblings during early development, and
as chicks. The researchers analysed 98 clutches on Tiritiri
Matangi Island, a predator free island off the East coast of New
Zealand, where a population of 51 Hihi was reintroduced between
1995 and 1996. They also found that for both males and females,
35 per cent of eggs laid failed to hatch compared to an average
of only 10 per cent hatching failure in outbred species. Lead
author Dr Patricia Brekke from the Zoological Society of London
says, "Our results show that inbreeding can have serious
implications for the long-term survival of reintroduced
species." She adds: "The major probl