Red-throated lorikeet
THE last sighting of the Redthroated Lorikeet (charmosyna amabilis) known as the Kulawai in Fiji was 27 years ago - back in 1993.
This year the Nature Fiji-Mareqeti Viti (NFMV) team members are optimistic about finding this critically endangered bird that is endemic to Fiji or is not found anywhere else in the world.
The rediscovery of the Manukalou in 2003 after 100 years of it not being seen gives the NFMV team hope that perhaps the Kulawai still exists and they are just not looking in the right places.
“Taveuni we think is the best place to search for it because compared to Viti Levu and Vanua
Levu it has not had as much development or encroachment into its virgin forests,” NFMV director Nunia-Thomas Moko said.
“Since it was taxonomically described in 1875, the Kulawai has captivated the interests of bird enthusiasts, as they would search for this timid bird in their small flocks of three to four birds in parts of Viti Levu, Vanua Levu, Taveuni and Ovalau.
“Sadly, with the introduction of predators such as tree-climbing rats and cats, the Kulawai began to see a gradual decline as far back as 1923.”
In 1923, ornithologist Casey A. Wood described Kulawai visiting Suva “Hypocharmosyna aureicincta, the pretty little Gold-collared Lorikeet, said by Layard to be found only on Ovalau, Viti Levu and Taveuni is still seen occasionally on the two last-named islands, but is now probably extinct on the first.
“During my residence in Suva, a small flock for several days visited the garden of Sir Maynard Hedstrom and then disappeared. In Taveuni, they are rarely seen away from the interior of the high mountain. The five skins in the Tring Museum were collected by T.H. Kleinschmidt in the interior of Viti Levu about 1872. I am afraid these charming little species are vanishing from Fiji (Wood & Wetmore 1926).”
Mrs Moko said the Nadarivatu-Monasavu area (where the Kulawai was best known) has had a significant increase in development, infrastructure and human presence since 1965, and each of these factors may have had a direct impact on the bird.
“Fiji’s third-largest island, Taveuni, is now considered the most likely place to find our Kulawai as its forests have changed less than those of Viti Levu over the last 50 years, with the vast majority of its forest remaining untouched,” she said.
A funding campaign was launched on the Remembrance Day of Lost Species on November 30, 2019.
She said funding campaign idea was raised by Anne O’Brien, a volunteer artist for NFMV, who has been fascinated with the bird for a very long time and had previously helped the organisation raise awareness on it in 2017.
“The NFMV team put together an advocacy strategy for the search for our Kulawai and a budget based on the strategy. It will cost $F10,000 to initiate the search for our Kulawai in July 2020,” she said.
“Craig Marlow has kindly produced a beautiful painting to be the feature prize for a Kulawai raffle, which we hope to launch by March 28.
“The raffle tickets have been designed as such that the buyer of the ticket receives a certificate for contributing to the search for our Kulawai. The tickets will cost $20 each and all proceeds will go towards getting Vilikesa Masibalavu Fiji’s leading ornithologist - out in the forests of Taveuni with a team of individuals that he has trained by July 2020.
“The $10,000 will cover transport (to and from Taveuni and within Taveuni), accommodation, sevusevu, food for camping, gears, and training materials for the locals who we will engage in the search and safety equipment during the search.”
She said in addition to the funding campaign, there was also an awareness and education campaign where Anne O’Brien has sewn a Kulawai mascot that the team members have been wearing at the RoC markets to create awareness about out Kulawai.
The team is also putting together a series of articles and children’s activities they hope to publish in the Kaila! Newspaper and they are liaising with the Fiji Arts Council to feature a Kulawai Art Exhibition on June 30 2020.
The team is also putting together a concept for a Kulawai love story that highlights the plight of the Kulawai from destructive elements such as bush fires, bad agricultural and logging practices, forest clearance etc.
The organisation also hopes that the image of the Kulawai on the five-dollar note is not all that is left of the Kulawai.
They hope that it is still out there in Taveuni and that it will respond positively to conservation efforts if the team finds it.
The search team will be led by Vilikesa Masibalavu, one staff member from NFMV, and field guides from villages in Taveuni.
The organisation is asking everyone in Fiji especially those on Taveuni to keep on the lookout for the rare beauty.