Saturday 21 November 2015

Record breeding success for Critically Endangered Northern Bald Ibis

By Shaun Hurrell, Fri, 20/11/2015 - 07:00 

The Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita has had an eventful and turbulent relationship with humans that has resulted in a graph of its population decline that matches its iconic red down-curved beak.
But latest breeding successes resulting from work of BirdLife Partners and the Government of Morocco gives hope for a harmonious relationship again in the future.
The large glossy-black bird once had an extensive range that spread across North Africa, the Middle East and Europe and has been idolised by humans as a symbol of fertility and virtue [More: The Hieroglyph]. Yet ironically human pressures have caused it to struggle breeding, and its dramatic range-reduction renders it classified today as Critically Endangered: reaching an all-time low at the end of the 20th Century with only 50 breeding pairs remaining. Today, 99% of the remaining wild birds are found in Morocco.
With that in mind, it is a great pleasure to announce that colonies in Morocco have had record reproductive success this year - the symbol of fertility now managing to live up to its tradition!
For the third year in a row, the colonies at Souss-Massa National Park and nearby Tamri, both Important Bird & Biodiversity Areas in south-west Morocco, formed a record number of breeding pairs, reaching 116 pairs in 2015.




GREPOM releasing a tagged juvenile ibis.</br>Photo: Víctor García Matarranz
GREPOM releasing a tagged juvenile ibis.
Photo: Víctor García Matarranz
“Despite challenges of funding wardens to protect the colonies, we managed to maintain the momentum of this project through 2015,” said Jorge Fernández Orueta, SEO/BirdLife (BirdLife Partner in Spain), who works on a project to save the Northern Bald Ibis through BirdLife’s Preventing Extinctions Programme.
“Breeding success is also especially high, reaching 1.7 fledglings per pair”, said Professor Mohamed Dakki, President of GREPOM (BirdLife in Morocco). “Post-breeding counts are also exceptionally big, with almost 600 birds – all the best recorded since detailed monitoring began and the establishment of Souss-Massa National Park 25 years ago!”




Northern Bald Ibis are very social. Here shown going to roost at colony on cliff in Morocco. Photo: Rachid El Khamlichi www.moroccanbirds.blogspot.com
Northern Bald Ibis are very social. Here shown going to roost at colony on cliff in Morocco. Photo: Rachid El Khamlichi www.moroccanbirds.blogspot.com

Apart from the Moroccan colonies, there is a tiny remnant population in Syria and a semi-wild population left at Birecik in Turkey, as well as experimental release work in Austria and Spain.
The BirdLife Partnership has really come together to save this species. We are proud to be contributing to the conservation of thislast viable, wild population of this species in the world through five BirdLife Partners*; with the support of several institutions, notably the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the BirdLife Species Champion for the Northern Bald Ibis. Souss-Massa National Park authority is responsible for work in the field and a longstanding conservation project since 1994.
During the time of this project, GREPOM became a BirdLife Partner.
“We are proud to now take on a leading role in the conservation of this globally-important species, and want to ensure the Moroccan people are just as proud,” said Professor Dakki.
“We also would like thank all Birdlife Partners and especially the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation for their continuous and notable support. A major part of this breeding success is thanks to considerable efforts made by Mohamed El Bekkay, Director of this Souss-Massa National Park, and Widad Obrou, responsible for ibis monitoring there.”




Local organisation's logo incorporating the iconic ibis.</br>Photo: GREPOM
Local organisation's logo incorporating the iconic ibis.
Photo: GREPOM
Through the project’s range of communication, awareness-raising and livelihoods-support activities, local people are increasingly taking ownership of the conservation of this iconic species. If you drive the coastal road in this region of Morocco you are likely to see Northern Bald Ibises painted on wall murals or used in local logos of local cooperatives.
As well as diligent monitoring, community wardens and staff of Souss-Massa National Park provide daily fresh water for the birds (which increases their breeding success) and patrol to prevent disturbance – including overseeing the increasing number of ecotourists who come to see the birds.
There is an urgency for a stronger formal protection status of the colony at Tamri, and to secure wardens for next season.
Professor Dakki concluded: “We thank also the High Commission of Waters and Forests for giving high conservation priority to Sous-Massa National Park, which was especially created to protect this legendary bird."
"Together, we hope to find in the near future additional breeding sites for the ibises.”
In another important development for the ibis’s conservation, a revised International Single Species Action Plan has just been adopted under the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) of the Convention on Migratory Species, at AEWA’s 6th Meeting of Parties.

Video by Brian Stone (tnstours.co.uk) of Northern Bald Ibis preening in the sun at Sous-Massa National Park.





Northern Bald Ibis in Souss-Massa showing their iridescent colouring. Photo: Brian Stone www.tnstours.co.uk
Northern Bald Ibis in Souss-Massa showing their iridescent colouring. Photo: Brian Stone www.tnstours.co.uk
*BirdLife is proud to be contributing to the management and conservation of the last viable, wild population of Northern Bald Ibis in the world through: SEO/BirdLife(BirdLife in Spain), RSPB(BirdLife in the UK) and,GREPOM (BirdLife in Morocco), in conjunction with High Commission for Water and Forest and Fight Against Desertification (Government of Morocco); and through support from SVS-BirdLife Switzerlandand VBN (BirdLife in the Netherlands), with the support of several institutions, notably the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, the BirdLife Species Champion for the Northern Bald Ibis through the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme. Souss-Massa National Park authority is responsible for work in the field and a longstanding conservation project since 1994.
This year, GREPOM (BirdLife Morocco) has taken on a leading role to protect the future of the Northern Bald Ibis in Morocco which is, given 99% its wild population is found in Morocco, very important for protecting the future of this Critically Endangered species globally.

Wednesday 27 May 2015

NBI situation in Siria


A rare bird in Syria is at risk of extinction after Palmyra, one of the country’s most ancient cities, was captured by the Islamic State group earlier this month, BBC reported, citing experts. The bird, called the northern bald ibis, was declared extinct in Syria over 70 years ago until seven of them were found near the city of Palmyra in 2002.

Despite being protected, the bird's numbers in Syria declined to four, and three of them were abandoned last week when their guards fled Palmyra after ISIS seized the city, BBC reported. Officials have offered a reward of $1,000 for information about the whereabouts of a fourth bird, called Zenobia, as it is the only bird that knows the species' migration route to Ethiopia.“Culture and nature they go hand in hand, and war stops, but nobody can bring back a species from extinction,” Asaad Serhal, head of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon, told BBC, adding that finding Zenobia is critical because without this bird, other captive birds cannot be released, raising threats of the species’ extinction in Syria.

The northern bald ibis is large, glossy and black, measuring about 30 inches in length, with a wingspan of about 53 inches. According to satellite tagging of 13 Syrian birds in 2006, three adults in the group and a fourth untagged one wintered together from February to July in the highlands of Ethiopia.

ISIS seized Palmyra, which is considered by UNESCO to be “one of the most important cultural centers of the ancient world,” on Wednesday, after days of fighting Syrian army forces. According to U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), ISIS now holds over half of Syrian territory after its seizure of Palmyra. The future of the centuries' old ruins in Palmyra is also at stake as the Sunni extremist group has been known to destroy local cultural artifacts that do not conform to its hardline views of Islam.

“There are no forces to stop them [entering the ruins]… But the important thing also is they now control 50% of Syria,” Rami Abdul Rahman, director of SOHR, said, according to the Guardian.

Last week, ISIS also reportedly beheaded at least four people in Palmyra, with some reports saying that the executed men were fighters with the Syrian regime, while other activists in Palmyra said the men were from a Sunni tribe called the Shaitat. Palmyra’s capture came just days after ISIS took the major Iraqi city of Ramadi, handing the Iraqi government its biggest defeat since last summer.

On Monday, however, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told BBC that Ramadi would be taken back from ISIS “in days” if Iraq received more support from international coalition partners. Al-Abadi’s remarks came after U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Sunday that Iraqi military lacked the will to fight ISIS militants.

“[Carter] was very supportive of Iraq and I am sure he was fed with the wrong information,” BBC quoted al-Abadi as saying. “[Iraqi forces] have the will to fight but when they are faced with an onslaught by [ISIS] from nowhere... with armored trucks packed with explosives, the effect of them is like a small nuclear bomb - it gives a very bad effect on our forces.”

Saturday 31 January 2015

2014 breeding season results: New record

As a regular task of the wardens employed by BirdLife in coordination with Souss Massa National park, monitoring of the colonies is essential to evaluate the evolution of the population

Regular monitoring of the population produced the following results:

SMNP
TAMRI
SMNP & TAMRI
Site A
Site F
Site E
Total
Pairs
20
20
21
61
63
124
Pairs laying eggs
19
18
21
58
57
115
Hatchlings
35
41
53
129
151
280
Fledglings
30
36
46
112
80
192
Chick survival (%)
58,7
87,8
86,7
86,8
52,9
68,5
Productivity
1,6
2
2,2
1,9
1,4
1,6

A productivity of 1.6 fledglings per pair is very successful for this species. In fact, if we compare these parameters with the previous year we get

SMNP
Tamri
SMNP + Tamri
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
Pairs
51
61
62
63
118
124
Pairs laying eggs
53
58
60
57
113
115
Hatchlings
101
129
161
151
262
280
Fledglings
77
112
71
80
148
192
Chick survival (%)
76.2
86.8
44
52.9
56.4
68.5
Productivity
1.4
1.9
1.1
1.4
1.3
1.6

The evolution becomes evident if we compare among years

Figure 1 Evolution of the number of pairs and fledglings in Souss-Massa and Tamri area

We can see that both the number of pairs and fledglings is the highest ever recorded in Morocco since the beginning of NBI conservation program in the 1990s.

In addition to the very successful breeding records, the regular census at roosts, gave at least 524 individuals. The evolution of the population is shown in the following figure.

Figure 2  Evolution of the post breeding numbers of NBI in Souss-Massa and Tamri area

In 2004, the count was 528 individuals, only slightly over the current record.
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