Efforts to protect the mountain chicken on both Montserrat and Dominica have been underway for a number of years. When chytrid struck the island of Dominica in 2002, the Zoological Society of London initiated a Darwin-funded project to study the disease and build capacity on the island to monitor chytrid. It was this project that established the captive breeding facility in Dominica. On Montserrat, before 2009, a new Species Action Plan was developed to focus on habitat protection, control of invasive predators such as rats and prevention of chytrid entering the island. When in 2009 the disease was found in the island we had to completely re-evaluate our response. Now our conservation strategy is focused around efforts to stop the species going extinct in the wild on both islands, understanding how we can restore the species and building capacity within the region to lead this restoration into the future.
The following sections contain more detail for Montserrat, Dominica, Research, Ex Situ Breeding.
