Beorn
03-02-2009, 12:37 PM
'Extinct' bird photographed for the first time ever... before it is sold for 10p and EATEN
A bird believed to have been extinct for decades was captured on film in a remote mountainous area of the Philippines... before it was sold at a market for 10 pence and eaten.
Scientists believed the Worcester's buttonquail had died out years ago and the only evidence of its existence was in illustrations based on dead specimens discovered centuries ago.
However, a television crew inadvertently filmed a one of the birds while recording a documentary on traditional methods of bird trapping in the mountains of Luzon in the Philippines.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/03/02/article-0-03B7B835000005DC-813_468x261.jpg
Neither the film crew or the bird trappers realised the creature was rare and after filming it was sold at a poultry market - as food.
By the time the film was spotted by a stunned ornithologist from the World Bird Club of the Philippines, the bird had already been sold, cooked and eaten.
Club president Mike Lu said: 'We are ecstatic that this rarely seen species was photographed by accident.
'It may be the only photo of this poorly known bird. But I also feel sad that the locals do not value the biodiversity around them and that this bird was sold for the cooking pot.
'What if this was the last of its species?'
The bird, which only lives in the Philippines, is believed to have fetched the equivalent of 10 pence.Desmond Allen was the sharp-eyed World Bird Club of the Philippines member who spotted the Worcester's buttonquail in the bird trapping documentary - appropriately entitled Bye-Bye Birdie.
The Worcester buttonquail is listed as 'data deficient' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's 2008 Red List. Scientists believed it could have been extinct.
Its traditional habitat was subtropical or tropical high altitude grassland.
Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1158488/Extinct-bird-photographed-time--sold-10p-EATEN.html)
A bird believed to have been extinct for decades was captured on film in a remote mountainous area of the Philippines... before it was sold at a market for 10 pence and eaten.
Scientists believed the Worcester's buttonquail had died out years ago and the only evidence of its existence was in illustrations based on dead specimens discovered centuries ago.
However, a television crew inadvertently filmed a one of the birds while recording a documentary on traditional methods of bird trapping in the mountains of Luzon in the Philippines.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/03/02/article-0-03B7B835000005DC-813_468x261.jpg
Neither the film crew or the bird trappers realised the creature was rare and after filming it was sold at a poultry market - as food.
By the time the film was spotted by a stunned ornithologist from the World Bird Club of the Philippines, the bird had already been sold, cooked and eaten.
Club president Mike Lu said: 'We are ecstatic that this rarely seen species was photographed by accident.
'It may be the only photo of this poorly known bird. But I also feel sad that the locals do not value the biodiversity around them and that this bird was sold for the cooking pot.
'What if this was the last of its species?'
The bird, which only lives in the Philippines, is believed to have fetched the equivalent of 10 pence.Desmond Allen was the sharp-eyed World Bird Club of the Philippines member who spotted the Worcester's buttonquail in the bird trapping documentary - appropriately entitled Bye-Bye Birdie.
The Worcester buttonquail is listed as 'data deficient' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's 2008 Red List. Scientists believed it could have been extinct.
Its traditional habitat was subtropical or tropical high altitude grassland.
Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1158488/Extinct-bird-photographed-time--sold-10p-EATEN.html)