Eighteen Madagascan pochards - the world's most endangered duck - have hatched in a captive breeding centre.

18只马达加斯加潜鸭——世界上最濒危的鸭种——在繁殖中心成功孵化。

The newly hatched ducklings represent almost one third of the entire world population of Madagascan pochards
This brings the world population of the ducks to just 60.

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, the groups leading the captive breeding programme, say this "builds hope that the bird can be saved from extinction¹".

The precious pochards are being reared at a specially² built centre in Antsohihy, Madagascar.

The ducks were thought to have become extinct in the late 1990s, but were rediscovered in 2006, when conservationists on an expedition spotted³ just 22 birds at a single site - Lake Matsaborimena (or Red Lake), in northern Madagascar.

Durrell and the WWT launched an emergency mission to rescue the critically endangered birds in 2009.

The aim was to collect eggs in order to start a captive breeding programme that would safeguard the species.

The conservationists collected 24 eggs from nests at the side of the lake. They initially⁴ reared the ducklings from those eggs in a hotel bathroom, while a captive breeding centre was being prepared.

The ducks that began their lives in that inauspicious（不详的） setting have now bred in captivity⁵ for the first time.

Dr Glyn Young, a conservation biologist with Durrell, who has spent much of his life studying the Madagascar pochard, said: "The ducklings represent an incredible step forward in the fight to save the pochard from extinction.

"The arrival of these ducklings has led to real hope that the birds can one day flourish again."