Ostrich ranch

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Cook Islands

Ostrich ranch plans under way

ONE of the world’s smallest countries is preparing a new home for the world’s largest birds. The Cook Islands plans to set up an ostrich ranch and so create a new industry for its tiny economy, now reliant on tourism and offshore banking.

The flightless birds, native to Africa, are bred in various parts of the world for their meat, leather and feathers. The Cook Islands News reported last month that 200 chicks were scheduled to be imported from Africa this month and would be sent to the ranch being built among former pineapple plantations on Mangaia Island.

Government Agriculture Secretary William Hosking said the chicks must pass strict quarantine requirements before being allowed in. The Cook Islands lies about 3000 kilometres north east of Auckland, New Zealand. It consists of 15 islands with a combined land mass of 240 square kilometres and population

of about 18,000.

AP