The conservation centre has successfully bred its first Javan green magpie chick and have created a shortlist of possible names – which are being put to a public vote on Facebook.
Hester Whitehead, a senior bird keeper at Jersey Zoo, said that the staff were excited about the birth of the male chick.
‘We are extremely pleased to have bred Jersey Zoo’s first Javan green magpie and we hope that he will be the first of many,’ he said.
The Javan green magpie is a critically endangered species, with only 100 birds left in the wild. Many have been forced to the point of extinction because of illegal poaching, habitat loss and degradation. The European captive population is held jointly between Jersey, Chester and Prague zoos.
The new chick is now part of a captive population that is hoped will help repopulate the magpie’s natural habitat.
The bird keepers have created a shortlist of seven Indonesian names but it is up to the public to make the final decision.
The shortlist:
1. Salamat – a national park in Java where Javan green magpies are found
2. Musim – Indonesian for ‘season’
3. Hijau – an Indonesian adjective, which describes the colour ‘emerald green’
4. Gilang – Malay for ‘bright, glittering, splendid’
5. Eko – ‘first’ in Javanese
6. Satu – Indonesian for ‘one’, with the hope that there will be ‘two’, ‘three’ etc in the future
7. Indra – god of seas and skies
Votes can be cast on Jersey Zoo’s Facebook page
