Birds, Not Mosquitoes (BNM) is a collection of different groups working to protect Hawaii’s native birds. The biggest concern for these birds is avian malaria, which is spread by mosquitoes. Now BNM has started using drones to drop containers of specially treated male mosquitoes, hoping to lower the numbers of mosquitoes threatening the birds. Hawaii is home to many unique birds, including a group known as honeycreepers. There used to be over 50 different species of honeycreepers. Now, only 17 are left — and these are at great risk. There are only a few individual birds of the ’akikiki left in the wild – and fewer than 100 of the ’akeke’e. There are several threats to these birds. But the biggest is the avian malaria. Avian malaria is similar to the malaria that humans get, but it only affects birds. The disease is spread by mosquitoes. The insects are not native to Hawaii, but were first reported in 1826, likely unintentionally carried over by whaling vessels. They caused waves of extinction, as many native birds, such as the honeycreepers, had no resistance to the disease. Some birds moved higher into Hawaii’s mountains, where it was too cool for mosquitoes. But as the climate has warmed, the insects are even reaching these areas. In 2016, BNM, along with the American Bird Conservancy and other partners, began a program to lower the numbers of mosquitoes – by releasing more mosquitoes. That may sound like a bad plan, but there are a couple of tricks involved. First off, they are only releasing male mosquitoes, which don’t bite. Secondly, the mosquitoes they are letting go have been specially treated so that they carry a bacteria called Wolbachia. Wolbachia doesn’t hurt the mosquitoes, but when male mosquitoes with Wolbachia mate with female mosquitoes, the female’s eggs will never hatch. By releasing huge numbers of specially treated males, the group hopes more and more female mosquitoes will lay eggs that don’t hatch. In time, this should bring mosquito numbers down. But it’s not easy. The birds that need protection are spread out over large areas in the mountains of different Hawaiian islands. In 2023, the group began using helicopters to release the mosquitoes. The helicopters drop small paper pods, each with around 1,000 male mosquitoes. The pods fall to the ground, where the mosquitoes are released. The helicopters release about 500,000 male mosquitoes every week to remote forests on two different islands. But helicopters are expensive, and they’re also a risk for the pilot and passengers. So now, the group is testing the use of drones to deliver mosquito pods. Drones can reach remote areas safely, and more cheaply than helicopters. But there were challenges. First, the group needed to figure out how to control the temperature of the pods so that the mosquitoes could survive the trip. They also needed to figure out how to carry and release the pods. The drones delivered their first mosquitoes in April. Once the tests are complete, the group plans to use the drones regularly. They hope the program will give Hawaii’s birds a chance to recover. “要鳥類，不要蚊子”聯(lián)盟由多個(gè)組織構(gòu)成，致力于保護(hù)夏威夷的本土鳥類。這些鳥類面臨的最大威脅是由蚊子傳播的禽瘧疾。如今，該聯(lián)盟開始用無人機(jī)投放經(jīng)特殊處理的雄蚊，以期減少威脅鳥類的蚊子數(shù)量。 夏威夷棲息著眾多獨(dú)特鳥類，包括一群被稱為“旋蜜雀”的物種。這里曾有過50多種旋蜜雀，如今僅存17種，且都面臨嚴(yán)重生存危機(jī)。野生考島旋木雀僅剩數(shù)只，考島管舌雀也不足百只。 這些鳥類面臨多重威脅，但最大的威脅當(dāng)屬禽瘧疾。禽瘧疾與人類感染的瘧疾相似，但只影響鳥類。該疾病通過蚊子傳播。 蚊子并非夏威夷原生物種，最早于1826年被記錄，很可能是被捕鯨船無意間帶入。它們引發(fā)了滅絕浪潮，因?yàn)樾廴傅仍S多本土鳥類對這種疾病毫無抵抗力。 部分鳥類被迫遷往海拔更高、氣候涼爽不適于蚊子生存的山區(qū)。但隨著氣候變暖，蚊子甚至開始侵入這些區(qū)域。 2016年，"要鳥類，不要蚊子"聯(lián)盟聯(lián)合美國鳥類保護(hù)協(xié)會(huì)等合作伙伴，啟動(dòng)了一項(xiàng)通過釋放更多蚊子來減少蚊子數(shù)量的計(jì)劃。 這聽起來似乎是個(gè)糟糕的方案，但其中暗藏玄機(jī)。首先，他們只釋放不吸血的雄蚊；其次，這些被釋放的蚊子都經(jīng)過特殊處理，攜帶一種名為沃爾巴克氏體的細(xì)菌。 這種細(xì)菌對蚊子無害，但當(dāng)攜帶該細(xì)菌的雄蚊與雌蚊交配后，雌蚊產(chǎn)下的卵無法孵化。通過大規(guī)模釋放經(jīng)特殊處理的雄蚊，該組織希望越來越多的雌蚊會(huì)產(chǎn)下無法孵化的卵。假以時(shí)日，蚊子數(shù)量應(yīng)當(dāng)會(huì)下降。 但實(shí)施過程并不輕松。需要保護(hù)的鳥類分散在夏威夷不同島嶼的廣袤山區(qū)。2023年，該組織開始使用直升機(jī)釋放蚊子。直升機(jī)投下紙質(zhì)小容器，每個(gè)容器裝有約1000只雄蚊。容器落地后，蚊子便被釋放。每周，直升機(jī)會(huì)向兩個(gè)島嶼的偏遠(yuǎn)森林投放約50萬只雄蚊。 然而直升機(jī)不僅成本高昂，還對飛行員和乘客構(gòu)成風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。因此，該組織正在測試用無人機(jī)投放蚊子的方案。無人機(jī)能安全抵達(dá)偏遠(yuǎn)區(qū)域，且成本低于直升機(jī)。 但挑戰(zhàn)依然存在：首先需要精確控制容器溫度確保蚊子存活，還需解決容器的攜帶和釋放技術(shù)問題。 今年四月，無人機(jī)成功完成首次蚊子投放。測試完成后，該組織計(jì)劃定期使用無人機(jī)執(zhí)行任務(wù)，期待這項(xiàng)計(jì)劃能為夏威夷的鳥類贏得生機(jī)。 (Translated by DeepSeek) | 