Beneath the red hot sand of an Indonesian island something stirs. A large egg is hatching and soon the newborn creature will dig its way out to the surface and take its first gulps of fresh air.
Yet no parent watches over it. This sounds as if it should be a young turtle, thrusting its flippers sideways as it makes its desperate lurch towards the ocean. It is not, however. This is
a bird. More remarkable still is that when it emerges the chick will
already be able to fly.
The Maleo is a surprising bird. Although it only numbers around ten thousand in the wild – and close to zero in captivity – it is remarkable amongst our feathered friends for the unique way it cares for its young. Instead of incubating their eggs, the Maleos lay theirs in the baking sand of Sulawesi island – the only place in the world in which they can be found in the wild. It sounds like an
April Fool trick, but be assured, this bird is very much alive and kicking. Whether it will be around in another fifty years, however, is altogether a different question.
