This Wednesday, Air Tahiti unveiled a new livery for its latest ATR 72-600, named Revanui. An aircraft featuring birds endemic to French Polynesia and critically endangered. A project in collaboration with the Polynesian Ornithological Society (SOP) Manu aimed at raising public awareness about the preservation of these species.
They are becoming rare. Endemic birds are struggling to survive in an increasingly hostile environment, impacted by the boom in invasive exotic species. As a reminder, French Polynesia is the third country in the world with the highest proportion of endangered birds. Indeed, today, of the 30 remaining endemic species, 20 are threatened, including 10 critically endangered. Among them, five of these species have fewer than 200 individuals: the Fatu Hiva Monarch (19 individuals), the Erythroptera Ground Dove (180 individuals), the Rapa Fruit Dove (140 individuals), the Tahitian Monarch (150 individuals) and the Rapa Shearwater (120 individuals). Little known to the general public, these birds are struggling to attract the attention of the population and the authorities. A reality that the Air Tahiti group and the Polynesian Ornithological Society (SOP) Manu hope to see change.
