(Reuters) — A species of crow that is extinct in the wild is ‘highly proficient’ in using tools, according to research published on Wednesday (Sept. 14) in the journal Nature.
Native to Hawaii, the Alala crow is now only the second species of crow species known to have the ability to make and use tools, the study found.
Until now, tool use was the exclusive domain of the New Caledonian crow, a distant cousin of the Alala.
We tested 104 of the 109 Alala’s alive at the time, and found that the vast majority of them spontaneously used tools,” Bryce Masuda, a co-author on the paper and the conservation program manager at the San Diego Zoo, said in a statement. .
“These birds had no specific training prior to our study, yet most of them were incredibly skilled at handling stick tools, and even swiftly extracted bait from demanding tasks,” he added.
The researchers set up a series of controlled experiments by placing food in the holes of trees where the crows couldn’t reach them without using some sort of tool.
After a population crash in the late 20th century the remaining wild Alala crows, the only members of their species left on Earth, were brought into captivity in an attempt to breed them back to healthy numbers.
The Alala crows will be released back into the wild in Hawaii later this year, according to a statement from the University of St. Andrews.
