Jakarta Globe – AFP, August 20, 2013
Phnom Penh. Jubilant conservationists expressed hope on Tuesday for the survival of the critically-endangered Giant Ibis after a nest of the bird species was discovered in a previously unknown habitat in northeastern Cambodia.
A giant ibis walks in a pond in Mondulkiri province, northeast of Phnom Penh. AFP Photo/World Wildlife Fund-Cambodia |
Phnom Penh. Jubilant conservationists expressed hope on Tuesday for the survival of the critically-endangered Giant Ibis after a nest of the bird species was discovered in a previously unknown habitat in northeastern Cambodia.
Habitat
loss and poaching has pushed the Giant Ibis to the edge of extinction, with
around only 345 of the reclusive creatures — distinctive for their bald heads
and long beaks — left anywhere in the world, 90 percent of them in Cambodia.
A farmer in
Cambodia’s Stung Treng province discovered the nesting site a few kilometers
inland in the biodiverse Mekong Flooded Forest area last month, the World
Wildlife Fund (WWF) said in a statement.
An
inspection team from the WWF later saw an adult bird sitting on the nest with
two eggs.
“The
discovery of the Giant Ibis nest on the Mekong is extremely significant because
it provides hope for the species’ survival,” said Sok Ko, Forestry
Administration official and Bird Nest Project officer with WWF.
The Giant
Ibis — or Thaumatibis gigantea — was listed on the Red list of the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 1994 as critically
endangered, the group said, with its habitat limited to Cambodia, Laos and
Vietnam.
“For Giant
Ibis to survive… it is key to secure breeding groups in more places. This one
nest is part of securing the future for the species,” Gerry Ryan, WWF’s
Research Technical Advisor, told AFP.
The group
warned that threats remain as the species’ lowland forest habitats continue to
be drained and stripped for agriculture, while its eggs are sometimes poached
by villagers.
But
conservation efforts in the Mekong area where the nest was discovered have
brought some reward, Ryan added.
“Giant
Ibises don’t like to be disturbed and are very shy — they tend to live far from
human settlements,” he said.
“The
presence of Cambodia’s national bird is further proof that efforts in managing
and conserving the area and its biodiversity are worthwhile and having an
effect.”
Agence France-Presse
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