Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 222529644

First step of Avian Malaria management for increasing the survival of Fatu Hiva Monarch juvenile and prevent its extinction.

After more than 10 years of increasing efforts in bird monitoring and intensive invasive species control, the decline has not yet been reversed and its situation is getting worse since the past 2 years. While between 2016-19, 77% of incubated FHM nests produced young that survived at least two months post-fledging (24 out of 31), in 2020/21 only 28% survived (4 out of 14). Several young showed signs of anemia and were found dead on the ground, without any trace of predation. Intracytoplasmic inclusions were observed in the red blood cells of a fledgling that died in 2022, suggesting a possible infection with Plasmodium sp. This avian malaria parasite, transmitted through mosquitoes, is highly pathogenic to non-adapted species, as seen with the dramatic decline of bird populations in Hawaii (Atkinson, 2000). This new threat reduces considerably our chance to save the species with our current management actions, that is why we aim to protect Fatu Hiva nests, chicks and fledglings from avian malaria with this funding by 1) protecting FHM nests with mosquitoes traps for reducing density of avian-malaria vectors, 2) Extra-feeding every fledgling produced during 1 year with meal-worms to increase its fitness and 3) Investigate anti-malaria treatment.