Pink pigeons from Jersey Zoo help boost wild gene pool
Thursday 4 December 2025
Earlier this year, Jersey Zoo transported four pink pigeons to the Gerald Durrell Endemic Wildlife Sanctuary in Mauritius, in the hopes to improve the wild population’s genetic health. The last time pink pigeons were repatriated from a European zoo to Mauritius was from Jersey Zoo in 2019, so this is positive news for the Pink Pigeon Recovery Programme.
Durrell’s Curator of Birds Harri Whitford chaperoned the birds on their travels, feeding and watering them in transit and helping them to settle into their quarantine facility in Mauritius. These birds were then moved to the Gerald Durrell Endemic Sanctuary to be paired with partners caught from the wild. It is hoped that genetically important offspring carrying a mix of both European and wild genes will then be released into the wild in the future.
Pink pigeon conservation is an important part of Durrell’s history, with Gerald Durrell setting up the first captive breeding programme for the species at Jersey Zoo in 1976.
Since then, Durrell conservationists, alongside partner organisations the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation and the Government of Mauritius, have worked tirelessly to save this species. The pink pigeon was once thought to be one of the rarest birds in the world, after the rapid destruction of their forest habitat and the introduction of invasive species had pushed the species to the brink of extinction. After years of captive breeding, releases and habitat restoration, pink pigeon numbers increased from 10 individuals to an estimated 600 birds over the past 40 years and is now celebrated as a conservation success story.
However, although the wild population of pink pigeons is currently stable, the species now faces another great challenge to their long-term survival; their very poor genetic diversity. Greater genetic variability helps to maintain the health of the population, provides better protection against disease and makes the birds more adaptable to environmental changes.
Monitoring their genetic diversity is an important part of conserving this species, as a greater genetic variability helps to maintain the health of the population, provides better protection against disease and pests, and makes the birds more adaptable to environmental changes.
Harri Whitford, Curator of Birds at Jersey Zoo and European Breeding Programme Co-ordinator for Pink Pigeons said, "As zoos are now holding pink pigeons who carry such precious genes, it’s vital we continue our efforts in breeding and returning the birds. The project is a fantastic example as to how zoos can play a crucial role in saving a species from extinction."
Harri returned to Mauritius in August, to help prepare the sanctuary the upcoming breeding season and to help train the teams on the ground. Since Harri’s visit, two pink pigeon squabs have hatched. These birds were born from either previously repatriated birds or their descendants, helping to support the wild population with its missing genes.
This project is a partnership between Durrell, the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, National Parks and Conservation Service, Government of Mauritius and Conservation Partners. The birds were flown from the UK to Mauritius thanks to the partnership between Air Mauritius and NPCS.