Papua New Guinean conservationists have successfully bred the Raggiana Bird of Paradise in captivity for the second time in history. It's been a four-year journey to get here, and the young bird named "Otto" is doing well.
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00:00Curious, hungry and full of energy, this national icon is growing up fast.
00:09Personally I'm excited about it because looking after them, trying everything to just make
00:14sure we are successful in breeding is something.
00:18The Rangiana Bird of Paradise is Papua New Guinea's national emblem.
00:23And this two-month-old chick, nicknamed Otto, is the second of its kind to be bred in captivity.
00:30When it came to like the 18th day and then we were thinking it wouldn't hatch, but then
00:34the 20th day it finally hatched, so we were really excited about it.
00:40It's not the mum doing the job, it's like the keepers are trying to become like the
00:43mum, so that's like the very difficult part of it, raising the chick.
00:47The hard work recognised.
00:49They appreciate me for all the night's work and all this to ensure that the babies survive.
00:57So I was credited for it.
01:00And Otto is your...
01:01My middle name.
01:04Once fully grown, Otto will become an integral part of the Nature Park's education program
01:10designed to conserve the important species.
01:13These are the magnificent tail feathers that are used in headdresses across PNG and make
01:19the Rajiana Bird of Paradise such a popular target for hunting.
01:22We really want to ensure that our unique and special species of animals in the wild will
01:29be carried on to the future generations so they will still be able to see this.
01:34While not endangered right now, the species faces even bigger threats than hunting, including
01:40climate change and deforestation.
01:44Being the national bird and with such a colourful bird, I think it's very important that we
01:53conserve those kinds of birds that we have here in the country.
01:58For now, Otto is blissfully unaware of his importance.