Bob Beck - Guamanian Bird Conservation

Guamanian Bird Conservation

Beck moved to Guam in 1974 and initially worked as a school teacher for several years. He eventually left teaching to become a zoologist with the Guam Department of Agriculture, Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources.

Beck was considered to be instrumental in capturing the remaining native birds on Guam, such as the Guam rail or kingfisher, whose numbers had been decimated due to the accidental introduction of the brown tree snake. Beck, a former Guamanian Department of Agriculture Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources wildlife supervisor, established captive breeding programs on Guam. For example, Beck established a stable breeding population of Guam rails, or ko'ko', in captivity and released them on the neighboring island of Rota, in the Northern Mariana Islands. Wildlife biologist Gary Wiles was quoted in the Pacific Daily News as crediting Beck for saving the species, "Bob was one of the first to begin organizing catching the birds so they could be brought into captivity, held there and bred. He started a captive population. We still have Guam rails today because of his efforts."

Beck was also a driving force for the establishment of captive breeding programs for native Guam rails in zoos throughout the United States. The Guam rail breeding program initially began at just three zoos, the Bronx Zoo, the Philadelphia Zoo and the National Zoo in Washington D.C. However, the program has been expanded to include seventeen zoos nationwide, including the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans and the San Diego Zoo. There are now over 120 individual Guam rails at the program's facilities on Guam and thirty-five Guam rails on the mainland United States.

Bob Beck stayed on Guam and remained involved in his programs following his retirement in 2003. He died in Tamuning, Guam, on May 24, 2008 at the age of 63. He was married to his wife, Patricia Rossett, from 1978 until 1992. The couple had two children, Erik R. Beck and Joanna R. Beck.