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Catching the mountain chickens to swab them is not as easy as it sounds; finding them for one, even with the radio transmitters it isn’t always a given that the frogs are moving more and further distances we have our work cut out for us! Even when we do find them they might be underground in burrows or under the rocks and completely inaccessible! It is important to catch the frogs and swab them once a week to monitor the … Continue reading →

THE CULTURAL IMPORTANCE OF THE CRAPAUD TO THE COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA Various species of animal wildlife have featured as important components in the cultural heritage of many countries all over the world. Some of these species are very iconic and have been elevated to the status of national emblems, flagship species, or have been included in the design of other national emblems. Two of Dominica’s wildlife species that feature prominently in our cultural heritage are the Sisserou Parrot (Amazona imperialis) … Continue reading →

As we have said before, in Montserrat we work hard and we play hard. To celebrate the successful release and all the hard work that has gone into bringing back the mountain chicken to Montserrat the team partied hard with a traditional evening of fire cooking and Caribbean calypso. Gerardo and Blacka were in charge of the fire (there were definitely competitions going on as to who could collect the biggest log!) whilst Matt, Nadine and myself prepared the seasoning … Continue reading →

We are all back into the forest to check on the newly released frogs, another big team effort. Gerardo and Javier were downloading data from the Songmeters, hoping for the recording of the mountain chickens calls, then checking out the ghaut visually for frogs. Blacka, Jenny, Ben and I were radio-tracking the frogs, our aim for tonight was to find the location of all the released frogs. We started at the bottom of the ghaut, just below the first release … Continue reading →

So the frogs are now safely in the forest. Now what? Well we need to find them of course. Some of you may remember this time last year with the last set of frogs when we started the radio-tracking. Basically all the frogs we have released this year are implanted with tiny transmitters which give out a signal. The idea is that using special radio-tracking equipment we can pick up on these signals and follow them to find the frogs. … Continue reading →

Having got the first batch of frogs out and into the forest there was little time to relax as it was soon time to get ready the final group… last but not least. Preparations were smooth as the team new exactly what to do from the night before. The last of the mountain chickens left in the facility were swabbed, photographed and had their stitches removed by Javier (Durrell’s head vet) before being placed into colour coded bags and then … Continue reading →

Having had a few nights of peace and quiet in the temporary ponds, it was time to release the first half of the captive-bred mountain chickens into their new home. The team mobilised to get the chosen frogs ready for release. They needed to be identified, swabbed and have the transmitters checked for the radio tracking before being placed into cloth bags and boxed up to be transported to the release site. Bringing mountain chickens back to their naural habitat … Continue reading →

It was a tense day yesterday. We knew the mountain chickens due for the next release were in the air winging their way to Montserrat but what were we going to find out once we opened those boxes?? We were all very excited when we go the call to say they had landed and Jervaine and Big Lloyd from the forestry department were ready to help us with their pick-up trucks. We attracted quite a crowd who were all keen … Continue reading →

Most of the team is here now with the arrival of Gerardo Garcia (head of the captive-breeding programme) yesterday evening and now Ben Baker from Chester so the cavalry has arrived. The team has been busy making the final preparations for the arrival of the mountain chickens with checking the holding facilities where the frogs will be housed for a few days before they are released. They have also been defacing the camping tents which will be used to release … Continue reading →

A very Happy New Year to all! 2011 was an amazing 12 months for the mountain chickens in Montserrat and the Mountain Chicken Project Team and we are very excited about 2012. And what better way to start the year than another release! That’s right folks, more mountain chickens are currently winging their way to Montserrat. Imagine…flying chickens! The team is all ready and set to go here with faces old and new. Our friendly Swedish vet, Jenny Liman, has … Continue reading →