Project Poksai
Poksai
The Poksai project led by Tomáš Bušina from the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague was focused on researching the behaviour of the Sumatran laughingthrush (Garrulax bicolor), an endemic songbird from the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and monitoring illegal trade in this species in Indonesia.
Threats to songbirds
Songbirds in Southeast Asia are a symbol of tradition, where a bird is supposed to bring good luck to its owner by singing in a cage in front of the house. However, due to high demand and black market sales, wild songbird populations are being heavily plundered, and many species in the area are already on the brink of extinction or have already been extirpated in the wild. The Sumatran laughingthrush (Garrulax bicolor), an endemic songbird of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, has been included by ornithologists and conservationists on the list of 13 Indonesian bird species for which it is necessary to take conservation measures as soon as possible to help prevent their extinction in the wild.
Poksai project activities
Research within the Poksai project was focused on the experimental release of several pairs of rehabilitated Sumatran laughingthrushes. The goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of the rehabilitation program, the behaviour of Sumatran laughingthrushes after their release, as well as the release itself as a possible measure to protect this bird species. Part of the research was a two-year monitoring of bird markets in Medan, the capital of Sumatra.
How Ostrava Zoo helps
The Ostrava Zoo, together with all its visitors, supported the project thanks to the "1 CZK for Wildlife" program in 2017. In addition, in the same year the zoo joined the conservation campaign of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) called Silent Forest – Asian Songbird Crisis in Southeast Asia, the aim of which was to draw attention to the crisis of Southeast Asian songbirds and to raise funds for conservation projects directly in the area. The Sumatran laughingthrush was one of the flagship species of the campaign. You can learn more information about the campaign at www.silentforest.eu.
