Sat May 24 12:20:00 UTC 2025: **News Article:**
**Rare Guam Kingfisher Chick Hatches at Cincinnati Zoo, Boosting Hope for Species Revival**
CINCINNATI (WKRC) – In a significant step towards saving a species from extinction, the Cincinnati Zoo has successfully hatched a rare Guam Kingfisher, also known as a Sihek, chick. The zoo is one of just two dozen facilities collaborating to rebuild the population of these birds, which have been extinct in the wild for over three decades.
“Every chick is vital to the future of this species, and we’re hoping that this is the first of many hatchings to come this year,” said Aimee Owen, senior aviculturist at the Cincinnati Zoo. She noted that two additional hatchings have occurred recently at Sedgwick County Zoo and Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Ideally, these hatchlings would be female, as the zoo population has a current need for more females.
The Guam Kingfisher has not been sighted in its native Guam since 1988, driven to near extinction by the accidental introduction of a non-native snake in the 1940s. In a desperate effort to save the species, Guam biologists brought 29 Sihek to U.S. zoos prior to their extinction in the wild, launching a conservation breeding program within Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)-accredited zoos. The Cincinnati Zoo is a participant.
“There are two nesting pairs here that may lay more eggs this season and there are eggs at other Zoos that we hope will hatch,” Owen explained. The immediate goal is to increase the population in managed care, with the intermediate goal of establishing a Sihek population on Palmyra Atoll in 2026. The ultimate goal is to reestablish the species on Guam.
So far, nine birds have been released at The Nature Conservancy’s Palmyra Atoll Preserve. Three of them were from the Cincinnati Zoo. Encouragingly, one of the Cincinnati Zoo’s Sihek has laid eggs at the preserve, signaling a promising start to establishing a new wild population.
First Piper 