During a routine sweep for endangered wildlife prior to logging operations, staff from Australia’s Forestry Corporation stumbled upon what they’ve called “a significant ecological find” – a clutch of eggs belonging to the coastal emu, one of the world’s rarest birds.

While the common emu, one of Australia’s most iconic species, has a stable population, coastal emus are another story. Considered genetically distinct from the rest of the country’s emus, they were once prevalent throughout the northeastern coast of New South Wales (NSW) and play an important role in spreading fruits and seeds across the area.

Since 2002, however, coastal emus been considered as endangered by the NSW government, largely due to predation and car strikes. Now, only a small population remains, thought to be restricted to only tiny portions of their former territory.

Unexpectedly discovering 10 of their dark green eggs – nine were found in the nest at the time, and the 10th nearby later on – came as a pleasant and important surprise.

“It is estimated that there may be fewer than 50 Coastal Emus left on the North Coast, so to discover a nest bearing eggs, is a significant moment for that endangered population,” Forestry Corporation’s Senior Ecologist Chris Slade said in a statement shortly after the nest was found.

“It’s an amazing prospect as the timing of the discovery is perfect in the sense that every effort can now be taken to try and ensure those eggs hatch into emu chicks.”

Those efforts now seem to have paid off. Speaking to ABC News, Slade said that out of the three eggs left in the nest, “the male has hatched two eggs and there are two chicks running around with dad now in the forest.” The remaining egg, which was found to be unviable, has been taken for testing.

The other seven eggs were taken to an incubator by the environment department’s Saving Our Species team as part of its coastal emu captive breeding program. Two of the eggs have since hatched – although one of the chicks later died from unknown causes – while the other five remain in the incubator.

Despite the successful hatchings, the discovery hasn’t gone without controversy. Logging initially continued in the area, with a 100-meter (328-foot) exclusion zone in the area surrounding the nest, but was voluntarily ceased on September 10.

“When you are talking about a population like the coastal emu, 100 metres doesn’t cut it,” NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson told ABC News. “Many experts are suggesting that that level of disturbance – we’re talking about an industrial scale timber logging operation, these are massive machines major disturbance going from dawn until dusk – this is just not compatible.”

Responding to the criticism, a spokesperson for Forestry Corporation told Yahoo News, “The nest was found in a regrowth forest that is designated for multiple uses including timber production and has been harvested multiple times and regrown in the past.”