Thu, 5 May 2016
Conservationists are expressing
concern that some of the Kingdom’s endangered birds are not reproducing this
year due to extreme heat stress, inability to find enough food
and habitat loss from wildfires and human encroachment.
“They aren’t able to gain enough
weight” to nest and lay eggs, said Ross Sinclair, the country director of
Wildlife Conservation Society.
Affected species include the
white-shouldered ibis, the giant ibis and the sarus crane, which range from
vulnerable to critically endangered, according to Sinclair.
“This drought is not contributing
to their recovery,” Sinclair said. “Increased stress on [endangered] animals is
not good news for conservation.”
Meanwhile, BirdLife International
program manager Bou Vorsak said Cambodia’s endangered vultures are losing
nesting trees due to logging and fires on the Eastern Plains and along the
Sesan River.
Vultures are especially needed
this year to clean up the many animal corpses resulting from the record heat
and water shortage, Vorsak said. By scavenging, vultures clean up the
environment and reduce the chance of insect-borne disease.
While WCS and BirdLife don’t expect
endangered ibis, crane and vulture numbers to actually decline this year, they
don’t hope to see much of an increase year either.
Endangered bird populations had
been increasing almost every year over the past decade until the recent
interruption.
