 Chris Gommersall/RSPB images
There are now 13 Northern Bald Ibis in Syria, following their most successful breeding season
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Tagging success boosts hopes for Arabian phoenix
27-07-2006
An international mission to save the rarest bird in the Middle East has cleared its first hurdle.
Satellite tags have been attached to three of the remaining seven adult Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita in Syria, a species thought extinct in the region until four years ago.
Scientists from BirdLife International's Middle East Division and the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) are tracking the trio’s migration after they left their breeding sites near Palmyra in south-east Syria on 18 July.
Bedouin nomads and Syrian government rangers have been watching over the nests of the three birds. Scientists hope to locate their winter base and discover why so few birds are returning. The project is being strongly supported by the Syrian government and the Syrian Society for the Conservation of Wildlife, and has also received funding from the National Geographic Society's Research and Exploration Committee and the Africa Eurasian Waterbird Agreement.
Paul Buckley, Head of Global Country Programmes at the RSPB, said: "We know next to nothing about where these birds go but if we can follow their migration and locate their winter home we should find out why their numbers are so low and how we can protect them. That is the first step towards increasing their numbers again."
The Northern Bald Ibis is a large, mainly black bird, with a bald red face, red bill and legs and ‘punk’ plumage. It was once widespread across the Middle East, northern Africa and the European Alps, was revered by the Egyptian Pharaohs and had its own Ancient Egyptian hieroglyph. Numbers plunged because of habitat loss, human disturbance and persecution and the species is now classified by BirdLife on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered.
The Syrian group forms one of only two wild populations of the species in the world. The other is found in Morocco, mostly in the Souss-Massa National Park, south of Agadir.
"Discovering the ibis was like finding the Arabian phoenix. Our survey and tagging work was some of the most challenging fieldwork we had ever done. We knew they were in Palmyra because of reports from Bedouin nomads and local hunters. Without this tracking project, the bird would have been consigned to history and hieroglyphics." —Ibrahim Khader, Head of BirdLife's Middle East Division
Since leaving Palmyra the three birds have travelled around 2,000 km south into Saudi Arabia, in just one week. They are likely to continue flying south as a group and may reach as far as Yemen, or cross the Red Sea to Eritrea.
Dr Ken Smith, a senior scientist at the RSPB said: "Tracking the birds and finding their wintering sites may be the last chance to save them. Helping the mature birds stay alive is crucial because they teach their young where to migrate to and when to go.
"The low numbers and difficult terrain in the region make this species particularly difficult to work with but its resilience so far suggests it has a future. Other birds have been brought back from the brink and with the Syrian authorities backing our work we are hopeful that we can save this bird."
Dr Gianluca Serra, Field Team Leader for BirdLife (and National Geographic Society Grantee) added: "Not only have we tagged the birds at last but we now have 13 ibis in Syria after the best breeding season yet. Our chances of saving this bird now seem more than just a dream."