Rare kingfisher birds released back into wild for first time in 40 years

British zookeepers have taken part in an international conservation effort involving one of the world's rarest birds.

The Guam kingfisher - also known as a sihek - went extinct in the wild almost forty years ago.

Now, six of the birds have been released on Cooper Island in the Pacific Ocean after keepers from Whipsnade and London Zoos helped to hand-rear them.

Experts are now monitoring the rare kingfishers, with the hope of returning them to their native home of Guam in the near future.

The young birds were hand-reared by zookeepers

Sihek are native to the forests of Guam, a US island located in the Western Pacific Ocean, and are culturally important to the indigenous Chamorro people who live there.

First listed as an endangered species in 1982, the birds have been extinct in the wild since 1988 due to an invasive predator, the brown tree snake.

As part of a conservation effort, four female and five male sihek were hand-reared by an international team of experts at Sedgwick County Zoo in the US city of Kansas - including staff from Whipsnade and London Zoos.

The birds were then transported to a protected nature reserve on Cooper Island in the Pacific Ocean called Palmyra Atoll.

Six of the nine kingfishers were deemed ready for release - and the remaining three will follow when they are considered able to survive in the wild.

Their journeys are now being monitoring, with the hope of returning them to their native home of Guam in the near future.

Claire McSweeney from Whipsnade Zoo, who helped rear the chicks, said: "It’s wonderful knowing that the birds are finally flying in Palmyra Atoll and making history as the first sihek in the wild in almost 40 years.

"It’s been incredible to be a part of the mission to not only bring sihek back to the wild, but also part of the mission to one day see them back on their home in Guam," she added.