Far from the zoos where they were raised, the sihek’s home is now within the tropical forests of Palmyra Atoll, an island in the Pacific Ocean approximately 3,600 miles southeast from Guam.

President-elect Donald Trump has cited national security concerns in suggesting the U.S. take over Greenland, but it’s unlikely to become the first new American territory since 1989.

But the atoll is far from unspoiled, Mordecai continues. “The most human impact it’s had was during World War II when there were about 2,400 troops.” Considering the brevity of the soldiers’ ...

Four female and five male sihek were hand-reared at Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas, USA, before being transported to temporary aviaries at a protected nature reserve on Cooper Island, Palmyra Atoll.