the Brandenburg ostrich - Landesamt für Umwelt, Gesundheit und ...

Conservation27The artificial henLarge-scale habitat protection began in the late1980s in the two bustard territories of the HavelländischesLuch and the Belziger Landschaftswiesen.Before then the species could only beprotected by finding clutches during agriculturalwork and then saving them. But the brooded andraised young birds then had to be released backinto the same unsuitable habitat from which theeggs came.Today the artificial incubation of rescued eggs andthe rearing of young birds by humans is still a partof the protection strategy, but only as a complementto the protection of habitats. The goal is a“sustainable” population that requires no more artificialpopulation support. In the HavelländischesLuch this goal is already quite close.The results of the artificial brood and rearingTime frameHatching success ratesof fertilized eggsReleased birds as a percentageof hatched chicksNumber ofreleased birds1980-89 64,7 % 53,6 % 3381990-99 69,6 % 69,9 % 1432000 – 11 70,9 % 76,1 % 338This table shows the results of the brooding and rearing in recent decades. While the results of rearing haveconstantly improved, the brooding success rate has stabilized below 70 percent.