Interview of Grant M.
Beauprez on Ko'ko bird and Guam Fruit Bat
Guam Fruit Bat
Michelle: What do you do?
Grant: I'm a biologist for Guam Department
of Agriculture Wildlife Division.
Michelle: How many Bats are left on
island?
Grant: 200 to 300 in one colony located
at the North end of the island.
Michelle: Why is the number decreasing?
Grant: Brown tree snakes eat the young
so then the older bats can not reproduce fast enough because the snakes
are eating the young faster than they are born.
Michelle :How are we saving them?
Grant: Snake Control, Education of
People, ultimately there is little we can do. There are large bat colonies
on other islands in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas.
Michelle: How many years have you been
working as a Biologist?
Grant: Well here on Guam I've been
working for three and a half years, and for federal government 1 year.
Ko'ko 
Michelle: How many Ko'ko birds are left
on Guam?
Grant: The Ko'ko (Guam rail) is extinct
in the wild. There are 130 birds in the breeding facility at Department
of Agriculture, Wildlife Division. There are some zoo's that
are breeders for the Guam rail in captivity.
Michelle: How did the Bird become
endangered?
Grant: The brown tree snake is the
primary reason the Ko'ko is extinct. The brown tree snake eats the
eggs and the young birds. If the snake is big enough it will eat
the eldest.
Michelle: How are we saving them?
Grant: In 1984, 20 adult birds were
captured and breed for the purpose of the population. |
