Nature Features

An endangered dove could again be seen flying around its native Pacific Island - almost 30 years after it was declared extinct in the wild.

And Paignton Zoo in South Devon has helped to save the beautiful Socorro Dove, with its breeding programme.

The zoo has successfully bred 23 of the birds, seven of which have been flown over to the United States with the hope that their offspring will be the first to re-inhabit their native Socorro Island - the only place in the world where they were known to be in the wild.

The dove was last seen on the island - 600 miles off the west coast of Mexico - in 1972 and was declared extinct in the wild in the early 1980s.

Paignton Zoo has sent seven of the doves to the US

The species has been brought back from the brink thanks to captive collections in the UK and Germany.

As well as the seven doves from Paignton, five from Edinburgh Zoo were also transported to the US - not under their own steam, but via a British Airways flight. Six of the 12 are male and six are female.

Government departments and conservationists from 12 countries have been involved in the Socorro Dove project, and there has been a captive breeding scheme organised by the European Endangered Species Programme.

It's hoped that some doves will be reintroduced to Socorro Island in 2009. The Mexican navy and local conservationists have built a breeding station on the island in readiness for their arrival.

Paignton Zoo has been keeping Socorro Doves since 2002 and the first chicks hatched in 2003.

The zoo's curator of birds, Jo Gregson, says the success of the project shows that international conservation schemes are invaluable.

"It's important that we try to save every single threatened species, not just the well-known charismatic ones," said Jo.

"Every species has the right to survive. Bringing a species back from the brink of extinction doesn't happen every day."