The Gifted Four were studying together in the dorm room, when Felix remembered something, “Guys, listen to this remarkable news. Austrian ornithologist (people who study birds), Johannes Fritz, found a brilliant way to help bald ibis — again.”
“I like the start of this news. Please continue,” Verum was curious.
“Bald ibis are a species of birds. They have a red face, bald head, black body and a huge beak. They were once found abundantly in Europe in captivity. But some 400 years ago, they went extinct in Europe. A few scientists got together, experimented and found a way to bring them back into the wild. The birds were reintroduced about 20 years ago.
However, there was a problem at that time. These birds did not remember their migration route,” Felix was interrupted by Scorch defining migration, “Migration is when birds move from one place to another to escape harsh winter conditions or find better food.”
“Correct. Fritz came up with an idea. He thought of using an ultralight aeroplane to be their guide. He went on his first guide duty from Austria to Italy and undertook over 15 such migrations. Fritz’s efforts started showing results as the rewilded birds passed on the migration route knowledge to their young ones.
However, recently, another problem arose: the route Fritz taught these birds for years has now become unsafe, thanks to climate change. The birds encounter snow on their migration journey.
On his last trip, Fritz saw these birds were covered fully in snow and struggled to find food. Fritz lured them with worms quickly changed the route and flew over the Alps. The new route is longer but is safer. Fritz says he needs to be their guide all over again as it is the only way to protect this species from going extinct — again,” Felix explained.
“It’s humans like Fritz who inspire me to care for nature more and more,” said Orak. The others nodded thoughtfully.