The cry of the 79 ko’ko birds was left in the care of the Guam Department of Agriculture. That number was 80 last week. Now, this cage now sits silent and empty. Buenas has left the coop, now flying high in rail heaven.

Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources biologist Anthony Tornito is one of many who remember the beloved ko’ko’. "I think Buenas is definitely a beloved bird and he’s touched the lives of many. He’s been brought to many classrooms and was an advocate for many children, young adults and even our elderly," he said.

Buenas was 15, a long life for a Guam rail.

But Buenas' brother, Tano, lives on.

"And we still have Tano, but again I guess it’s just us wanting to hopefully be able to produce, or have a population steady enough to produce more education birds. Because I like to call them our koko workers. We take them out. They are truly the stars of this division in terms of wildlife outreach," Tornito said.

Tornito said sadly, Buenas’s death points to a bigger issue. Most of the ko’ko’ birds at DAWR are getting older and it's been difficult to get more flown in.

"So what it is is that we haven’t had consistent shipment of input from these birds in the united states to come to Guam," he shared. "And the last time I heard, I believe we had ten birds slated for Guam but they’re sitting at the zoos across just getting older, you know just waiting for a flight to Guam."

He said 79 birds is the lowest by far, sharing issues with a major airline company unable to secure a flight for these flightless birds. The last time new ko’ko’s were shipped to Guam was around five years ago.

Tornito said, "They are the advocates for Guam’s wildlife and we hope that by children, the young adults and even the manamko’, them seeing the birds really evokes memories and also hopefully inspire them to create new ones around the birds."

Buenas was the agency's ambassador for Guam’s wildlife and spent many hours in local classrooms inspiring many like Tornito. "Fourteen years ago, Buenas came as a one-year-old bird to my classroom in high school. And I didn’t know what a ko’ko’ bird was. That’s when I started researching what is this bird," he recalled.

It's a full-circle moment, as now Tornito cherishes Buenas’s last moments.