Most White-Shouldered Ibis Ever Recorded in Cambodia
September 15, 2010 – 11:57 am
Most White-Shouldered Ibis Ever Recorded in Cambodia A record number of the critically endangered white-shouldered Ibis have been counted in Cambodia, Birdlife International said yesterday. Bou Vorsak, Birdlife’s Cambodia Acting Programme Manager, said 429 of the birds were counted simultaneously at 37 roost sites in five provinces across the country last month. This figure exceeds by 30% the 2010 International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List estimate of just 330 birds left worldwide.
The ibis population declined steeply in the 20th Century due to habitat loss and hunting. The bird is now non-existent in Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, Malaysia and southern China, according to Birdlife, and it remains primarily in the dry deciduous forests of north east Cambodia.
For more about the White-Shouldered Ibis, check out the Birdlife International website here.
