Critically endangered spoon-billed sandpiper chicks have hatched in the UK for the first time.
Twenty thumbnail-sized eggs were transported from Arctic Russia to a reserve in Gloucestershire.
The first chicks hatched on Wednesday, 4 July in the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) centre in Slimbridge.
It is the latest stage in a breeding programme which aims to save the species from extinction.
"Every chick could be a saviour of its species," said Nigel Jarrett, head of conservation breeding at WWT, who was responsible for transporting the eggs.
"The more birds you've got… the less chance they're going to go extinct."
Continued: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/18767838
Posts
