Conservationists successfully breed Papua New Guinea’s national Raggiana bird

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Papua New Guinean conservationists have successfully bred the Raggiana Bird of Paradise in captivity for the second time in history. It's been a four-year journey to get here, and the young bird named "Otto" is doing well.

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00:00Curious, hungry and full of energy, this national icon is growing up fast.

00:09Personally I'm excited about it because looking after them, trying everything to just make

00:14sure we are successful in breeding is something.

00:18The Rangiana Bird of Paradise is Papua New Guinea's national emblem.

00:23And this two-month-old chick, nicknamed Otto, is the second of its kind to be bred in captivity.

00:30When it came to like the 18th day and then we were thinking it wouldn't hatch, but then

00:34the 20th day it finally hatched, so we were really excited about it.

00:40It's not the mum doing the job, it's like the keepers are trying to become like the

00:43mum, so that's like the very difficult part of it, raising the chick.

00:47The hard work recognised.

00:49They appreciate me for all the night's work and all this to ensure that the babies survive.

00:57So I was credited for it.

01:00And Otto is your...

01:01My middle name.

01:04Once fully grown, Otto will become an integral part of the Nature Park's education program

01:10designed to conserve the important species.

01:13These are the magnificent tail feathers that are used in headdresses across PNG and make

01:19the Rajiana Bird of Paradise such a popular target for hunting.

01:22We really want to ensure that our unique and special species of animals in the wild will

01:29be carried on to the future generations so they will still be able to see this.

01:34While not endangered right now, the species faces even bigger threats than hunting, including

01:40climate change and deforestation.

01:44Being the national bird and with such a colourful bird, I think it's very important that we

01:53conserve those kinds of birds that we have here in the country.

01:58For now, Otto is blissfully unaware of his importance.

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