Chester Zoo is helping lead an international effort to save one of the world's rarest birds after surveys across 12 mountains in Indonesia failed to find a single one in the wild.

With fewer than 250 Javan green magpies thought to remain worldwide, the zoo has played a central role in developing an emergency conservation action plan for the critically endangered bird.

The plan brings together government, conservation organisations, specialist groups from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and zoos from Indonesia and across the world in a coordinated attempt to pull the species back from the brink.

Bird experts from Chester Zoo were among 48 international specialists who travelled to Indonesia to help develop the strategy, which outlines more than 80 actions over the next decade.

The measures include tackling illegal bird trapping, habitat loss and the online wildlife trade, while expanding a conservation breeding programme the zoo helped establish more than a decade ago.

Despite being legally protected in Indonesia, the species continues to be traded illegally through platforms including WhatsApp and Facebook.

Chester Zoo currently cares for 12 of the approximately 130 Javan green magpies in the global conservation breeding programme, with birds in human care now considered vital to the species' survival.

The conservation plan is now being put into action, with partners at the Cikananga Wildlife Centre in West Java working alongside the Indonesian government to strengthen support ahead of future reintroductions into the wild.

advertisement

"This is a bird that most people have never heard of, and that's part of the problem," said Andrew Owen, Chester Zoo's head of birds, who co-authored the plan.

"The Javan green magpie is running out of time - and running out of places to hide. When survey teams searched across mountain after mountain in Java and found nothing, it brought home just how desperate the situation has become.

"Chester Zoo has been fighting for this species for over a decade. We helped build the breeding programme that now holds almost every individual known to exist. But while conservation breeding buys time, it isn't a solution on its own.

"This new action plan is about giving the species a future in the wild. That's what drives us."

Developed during a four-day workshop in Java in late 2025, the action plan also includes proposals to work with local communities, disrupt illegal wildlife trade networks and prepare protected habitats for the eventual release of birds bred in conservation programmes.

Known locally as the Ekek Geling, the bird was once prized for its distinctive song but has been pushed to the brink of extinction by decades of trapping for Indonesia's songbird trade.

Chester Zoo and its conservation partners are now calling for international financial and practical support to help deliver the plan before the species disappears from the wild entirely.