M D England/BirdLife Important new populations of the rare sharpii race of Sarus Crane Grus antigone have been discovered in Vietnam and Cambodia. Zoom In

New Sarus Crane site

25-09-2002

In January 2002, a fourth major non-breeding site of the South-East Asian race sharpii of the vulnerable Sarus Crane Grus antigone was discovered, in Takeo Province, southern Cambodia.

The race sharpii numbers fewer than 1,500 individuals and breeds in north-east Cambodia and winters in north-west Cambodia and in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. At the new locality 123 birds were seen although local people report that birds have visited the site from December to March since at least 1984, with numbers peaking in late February and March.

The locality was first identified during an aerial survey by the International Crane Foundation (ICF), the Department of Forestry and Wildlife (DFW) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), and the Department of Nature Conservation and Protection (DNCP) of the Ministry of the Environment (MoE). A follow-up survey by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), BirdLife International, DFW and DNCP in January 2002, as part of a Danida-funded project, discovered three other species of global conservation concern; Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala, Oriental Darter Anhinga melanogaster (both Near Threatened) and Spot-billed Pelican Pelecanus philippensis (Vulnerable).

The seasonally inundated grassland and lotus swamp in Koh Andeth and Borey Chulsar Districts is of global conservation significance and qualifies as an Important Bird Area (IBA). The area does not appear to be under any immediate threat, although there is the ever-present danger of wetland conversion to agricultural land. A high priority now is to conduct faunal surveys in bordering habitat in Vietnam.