SYDNEY, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Zoo authorities in Australia's Victoria state are flying a handful of one of the country's most threatened bird species to the wilderness in southern Tasmania island in an attempt to save the parrots from extinction, local media reported on Saturday.
Ten of the orange-bellied parrots, which number just 30 to 50 in the wild, have been given final health checks before their plane ride over the Bass Strait next month, the ABC News channel reported.
"They're quite critically endangered and at serious risk of extinction in the wild," zoo veterinarian Paul Eden was quoted as saying.
"Habitat loss is a major driver, particularly for their wintering grounds, so on the mainland a lot of habitat is being lost to development and agricultural land."
The wild parrots with their distinctive yellow underpart and orange belly patch are one of a few migrating species of their kind, spending summer breeding in the island state in the Southern Hemisphere before heading to coastal Victoria and South Australia for winter.
Apart from disease, introduced predators including cats and foxes are also threatening the species' survival.
Fewer than 20 of the migrating parrots have been arriving on the Australian mainland in the past two to three years and flying them to Tasmania may improve their overall chances of survival, said Eden.
