Private beach for bird

17juni2009
Source: nationalgeographic.com, foto: Julie Larsen Maher, WCS
The maleo looks remarkable and is extremely rare. This Asian type of megapode is endemic only to the island of Sulawesi. There, the maleo's have been given a pristine beach of fourteen acres.
Maleo’s (Macrocephalon maleo) are threatened with extinction. On the protected piece of beach, however, they can lay there eggs without disruption. Maleo’s lay their eggs in a deep hole in the sand. The sun provides the eggs with warmth. When the chicks hatch, they dig themselves out. The young maleo’s can fly right away and have to take care of themselves from the very start. Nests in the sand are an easy target for poachers. This is the reason that only a hundred breeding places remain. This also indicates the importance for a protected beach.
According to the Wildlife Conservation Society in Indonesia, the protection of this beach is only the first step towards a large scale maleo protection program. The beach was officially taken in use by releasing four maleo chicks.