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Good practice Imported

Raso Lark Translocation & Predator Control — Santa Luzia Nature Reserve (Cabo Verde)

Cabo Verde · Santa Luzia · See the Cabo Verde profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 90% 27/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

SPEA, Biosfera 1 and Cabo Verde's environment agency translocated 37 Critically Endangered Raso Larks to predator-controlled Santa Luzia in 2018 (plus 33 more later); breeding was confirmed, though COVID-19 interrupted the underlying cat-eradication work.

37 birds
Raso Larks translocated in initial release (April 2018)
33 birds
Raso Larks in follow-up translocation (2018-2019)
~20 birds
Larks recorded on Santa Luzia (March 2019)
0 events
Seabird predation events recorded on Raso, Branco, Rombo islets (2.5 years)
Raso Lark Translocation & Predator Control — Santa Luzia Nature Reserve (Cabo Verde)

Details

Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
SPEA (Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves) / Biosfera 1 / Cabo Verde Directorate-General for Environment (DNA), funded by the MAVA Foundation
Period
2017-2019 (translocation phase); predator monitoring ongoing
Keywords
invasive predator control, species translocation, seabird & landbird recovery, island restoration

Context

The Raso Lark is a Critically Endangered songbird historically confined to a single 7 km² islet, Raso, in Cabo Verde's Barlavento island group - a single-island endemism that creates acute vulnerability to catastrophic events such as drought, disease, or introduced predators. From 2017, SPEA (Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves), Biosfera 1 and Cabo Verde's Directorate-General for Environment (DNA) began feral cat eradication on the neighbouring 35 km² island of Santa Luzia, as part of ecological restoration of the Santa Luzia Nature Reserve within the roughly 11,000-hectare Santa Luzia Marine Protected Area, funded by the MAVA Foundation.

Objectives

To establish a second, predator-free population of the Raso Lark on Santa Luzia island, reducing extinction risk associated with single-island endemism.

Activities

In April 2018, 37 Raso Larks were translocated from Raso to Santa Luzia with specialist Dr Mike Brooke. A follow-up translocation moved a further 33 larks (19 males, 14 females) to broaden genetic diversity. In parallel, feral cat eradication was carried out on Santa Luzia.

Results

By March 2019, approximately 20 larks were recorded on Santa Luzia: 5 original released birds, 2 colour-ringed birds that had flown independently from Raso, and 12 unmarked birds including hatchlings - confirming that released birds had bred on Santa Luzia and that their annual survival was comparable to the source population on Raso. Separate BirdLife monitoring on nearby islets (Raso, Branco, Rombo) recorded no seabird predation over a 2.5-year period.

Conclusions

The translocation itself is documented as successful and published as a transferable case study in the IUCN journal PARKS. However, the cat-eradication component on Santa Luzia was interrupted when the island was evacuated during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving the ultimate outcome of that eradication - and therefore the long-term security of the reintroduced lark population against residual or reintroduced cats - independently unconfirmed.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — No specific cost figures are given in available sources; the broader Santa Luzia restoration project was funded by the MAVA Foundation.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — Translocations occurred 2017-2019 (main releases April 2018 and a follow-up); predator monitoring intended to be ongoing but interrupted by COVID-19.
Staffing & skills
SPEA (Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves), Biosfera 1, Cabo Verde Directorate-General for Environment (DNA), Dr Mike Brooke (translocation specialist)

Conditions for success

  • Multi-partner funding via the MAVA Foundation
  • Involvement of a specialist translocation expert
  • Follow-up translocation to broaden genetic diversity

Common failure modes

  • Cat-eradication component on Santa Luzia interrupted by COVID-19 island evacuation
  • Long-term security of the reintroduced population against residual/reintroduced cats remains independently unconfirmed

Commonly funded by

Philanthropic / foundation funding

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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