PRAGUE (AP) — The Prague Zoo has participated in an international effort to ensure the survival of rare insects that have been considered extinct for more than 80 years.
The zoo is one of six institutions around the world and was able to create living conditions for the Lord Howe Island Stick insects, the largest flightless insect. They are on display and are rare opportunities only London and San Diego offer.
The insect, also known as the Fasmids of Lord Hau Island, grows native to the remote archipelago of the Tasman Sea off Australia.
The uninhabited archipelago was discovered in 1778. Arrived on a ship trapped offshore in 1918, rats appeared to wipe out insect populations.
Climbers spotted insect signs on a rocky island 23 kilometers (14 miles) from Lord How in the 1960s. In 2001, it was confirmed that the specimen survived there. Two pairs were brought to Australia for breeding. This is a step that we consider necessary for highly endangered species.
“They had to put in great effort to survive in tough places like the ball pyramid for 100 years, and now they need such sensitive care to survive in captivity,” Prague Zoo expert keeper Vojtěch Vít said Tuesday.
The zoo had to create an air-conditioned building with disinfectant devices for keepers at the entrance to protect insects susceptible to bacteria and viral infections and obtain approval from Australian authorities for breeding.
The goal of the breeding program is to return insects to the natural environment of Lord Island, Hau, after the mice were eradicated in 2019.
