A stretch of cutaway bog at Boora in Co Offaly may hold the key to the survival of Ireland's remaining grey partridge population. Only 70 birds are left in a number of coveys, or family groups, in an area around the cutaway bogs, which have been milled for use in the nearby power station.
A conservation project has been established - funded by Bord na Mona and the Wildlife Service of the Department of the Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands - and supported by local farmers, who allow the scientists access to their lands. It is also being closely monitored by the gun clubs. Dr Brendan Kavanagh of the biology division of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, who is co-ordinating the project, said: "We want to conserve the last remaining Irish birds and to try to work out how we could reintroduce the species if we can save the last remaining birds". Grey partridges had been traditionally found on mixed farmland throughout the country, he said, but because of changing farming practices the bird was now "perilously close" to extinction.
Dr Kavanagh says there are 70 native grey partridges in Boora and another 17 at Lullymore in Co Kildare. The aim is to capture birds from the wild, breed them with captive birds and release the progeny into the wild.
"Gun clubs and others have brought in partridges from outside the country. However, the problem is that though they can be released and will survive in the wild, they cannot breed successfully," he said.
The operation to ensure the survival of the birds in the study area is complex and time-consuming. Barley, oats and kale crops have been sown along dykes in the area to provide food and cover for the grey partridge. In addition, a special predator control scheme has been put in place to help the birds survive the crucial period when they are nesting during the breeding season.
This has involved killing many foxes, grey crows and some stoats under a special licence from the Government. As a result, there has been an explosion in the pheasant and rabbit populations in the area.
Dr Kavanagh is at the half-way point in the study, but he is not yet sure if the native birds can survive, particularly given the poor weather during the nesting season last spring.
He remains undaunted, however. "I think it's very important to work at keeping these native birds because they are part of our heritage and because it is emerging that they may behave in a different way than other grey partridges in Europe. "The remaining Irish birds seem to move a lot farther and have a greater range than, say, the birds in Britain. However, this may be because there are no other partridges to challenge them," he said.
Blood tests will determine if Ireland has a unique species, but in the meantime Dr Kavanagh and his team are hoping for good weather this spring, which will be crucial to the survival of the species.
Monitoring the progress of the survey with interest is the national gun club movement, the National Association of Regional Game Councils, which imported partridges into Ireland in 1982. That project was not very successful. Local gun clubs have limited shooting in the area to assist Dr Kavanagh and his team with their work.