Endangered Bank cormorant dies in Torquay Zoo

Zoo had hoped to breed from young female 

October 2010: Conservationists at Living Coasts in Torquay are heartbroken by the death of a rare bird. The female bank cormorant - named Mpumi - was found dead one morning at the end of last month by keeping staff.

INCONCLUSIVE POST-MORTEM: There were no wounds or signs of disease to explain how Mpumi died

She was one of three bank cormorants at Living Coasts, the only birds of their species in a zoo anywhere in the world, with only about 4,000 left in the wild. Mpumi was a part of international efforts to save this endangered species which are being led by the coastal zoo.

Ghislaine Sayers, Head of Veterinary Services at Paignton Zoo and Living Coasts, said: ‘The post-mortem examination proved inconclusive, which is not unusual. There were no wounds and no sign of disease. We have sent tissue samples off to the labs but it will be about a month before we get any results.'

Living Coasts Director Elaine Hayes said: ‘This is truly heartbreaking. The keeping staff - and the rest of the team - are devastated. It is a huge setback for our flagship conservation programme - but that's conservation for you. We have good days and we have bad days. It's two steps forward and one step back.

'She is the first bird I have cried over'

‘The saddest thing is that Mpumi was just ready to mix with the males, so we were finally reaching the crucial next stage on the road to breeding our own birds here. This is a terrible loss. She is the first bird I have cried over.

‘We have put two-and-a-half years of effort and commitment into this project. The planning, the preparations, the paperwork, the travelling to South Africa, the special permission needed to collect the eggs, the time and expertise the keepers put into hatching the eggs and rearing Mpumi.

‘We have learnt a lot from this. We aim to go back next year, collect more eggs and start again. When you are talking about extinction, you can't admit defeat. If conservationists gave up after the death of one bird then no one would ever save anything. We have invested thousands of pounds in this work and we will carry on. Living Coasts is a fantastic place with fantastic people - we will bounce back.'