TOKYO - The population of endangered short-tailed albatrosses on a remote Japanese island has exceeded 10,000 for the first time since a small number of the seabirds were rediscovered there 75 years ago, according to a Japanese research institute.
The Yamashina Institute for Ornithology said a breeding survey conducted in February and March found 11,067 of the birds, which were considered extinct until 1951, on the volcanic Torishima Island of the Izu island chain in the Pacific. The figure represents a 12 percent rise from a year earlier. Researchers also confirmed 1,591 chicks.
The short-tailed albatross, listed as vulnerable by Japan's Environment Ministry, was heavily hunted for its feathers from the 1890s through the 1900s. It was believed to have become extinct after a 1949 survey, but around 10 birds were found on Torishima in 1951.
With volcanic activity on the uninhabited island posing a threat to the birds' breeding environment, securing a more stable site remains a priority. Efforts have been underway since the 2000s to establish another breeding colony on Mukojima Island in the Ogasawara island chain, where the species is known to have bred in the past. A small number of albatrosses were also confirmed in the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea in 1971, although recent studies have suggested that the birds there may belong to a separate species.
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