Thought extinct, with the “last one” reportedly being seen in 1991, the Madagascar pochard (Aythya innotata), was rediscovered last month, according to a BBC News report published in January 2007. This diving duck had been given up as long gone by most ornithologists.

A group of conservationists from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust discovered a group of at least 25 pochards while searching for a rare hawk.

Glyn Young, of the Durrell Trust, has been searching for the duck, Aythya innotata, since 1989. His passion for the quest is so intense he named his eldest daughter Aythya.

The finding is extremely exciting. It was incredible. Some of the chicks could only just have hatched. The Madagascar pochard is extremely secretive and little is known about its life cycle and behaviour. It was believed that they preferred marshy lakes with lots of reeds and emergent vegetation but the newly discovered population was found in a steep-sided volcanic lake with little shoreline marsh and reeds.Glyn Young, ornithologist