Bob Beck

Who was Bob Beck?

Robert E. Beck Jr. was a zoologist and conservationist, who worked to save Guam's indigenous native birds from 1982 to 2003. Beck championed the fight to save Guam's native birds, such as the Mariana Crow, Rufous Fantail, Guam Flycatcher, Marianas kingfisher and the Guam Rail, known locally as ko'ko' in Chamorro, which are under the extreme threat of extinction due to the non-native brown tree snake and habitat loss. The Rufous Fantail and the Guam Flycatcher listed above are now extinct in the wild in their native Guam. However, the captive and wild populations of the Mariana Crow, Guam rail and the Micronesian kingfisher have increased, due in large part to conservation efforts by Beck.