For UK members, I have just enjoyed this on BBC2. It had some Attenborough archive footage from Zoo Quest and Life of Birds plus sequences from the Birds of Paradise Project and a conversation with the camera team. Of particular interest was a sequence shot at Al-Wabra, including Sir David's opening and closing pieces to camera with a hand-reared Greater BoP upstaging him by displaying right beside him. There is a clip on the BBC website BBC Two - Attenborough's Paradise Birds. The program will be repeated on Saturday at 19.30 and is also available on the iPlayer of course. Alan
It was a great programme, even if it did make me bitterly regret having been born too late to have benefited from the days when BoP were more commonplace these days the majority found in Europe are held offshow at Walsrode. Funny enough it is coming up to the fifth anniversary of my first BoP lifetick - the Red which was once held at Chester. Just a shame none of my photographs from my old dodgy camera were any good......
Why does nobody want to work with them? I would have though they would have been perfect for Islands.
I suspect it is not so much nobody wanting to work with them - for there are bound to be collections which would like to have the chance to do so - and rather a case that the few collections that have the right connections are not interested.
I was gutted when Chester got rid of their red bop's, but seeing as a number of deaths eclipsed the early breeding success, it was probably the right move. I've heard dietary issues (iron absorption) and aviary design problems as being contributory factors... Any further info on this?
One thing that went against them was the fact that the second "breeding" female who was in the zoo fore several years was infertile. Chester was to have had king bird of paradise in Islands, but they are no longer in the collection plan.
