Adjutant Storks at Risk in Assam, India

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INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR BIRD PRESERVATION/ INTERNATIONAL WATERFOWL AND WETLANDS RESEARCH BUREAU SPECIALIST GROUP ON STORKS, IBISES AND SPOONBIIIS

N EWSLETTER

I Volume 2, Number 1/2 December, 1989 I

INTRODUCTION must continuously update our understanding of the status of storks, ibises and spoonbills throughout the world. Many of the species are In the spring of 1989, we (Koen Brouwer endangered, and we must act to save these and Malcolm Coulter) were elected as Co- birds. While some situations are urgent and ' chairmen of the ICBP/IWRB Specialist Group on require immediate action, we must also consider - Storks, lbises and' Spoonbills to continue the the longer term. For species that we know are work of Charlie Luthin. We look forward to the under pressure, we need to develop long challenges and to working with you. The group, ranging Action P/ans which'will allow greater of (ourse, is the responsibility of all of us. lt will planning with good chances of success. We must take everyone to. meet the large conservation begin to think about these longer-range plans. challenges ahead. Each person has his own responsibilities, but by working together we will Many storks, ibises and spoonbitls are be inuch stronger than any of us individually. wetland species, others live in drier habitats. Their conservation problems are often related Dr. Wennrich intiated the group. He set up to loss or destruction of habitat which threatens a library and began building the network. He other birds of these same areas. In our efforts to.. established a strong base for Charlie Luthin who preserve storks, ibises and spoonbills, it will be succeedecl him. Charlie, whom most of us have important to work with others who are trying to de;:lt with for many years continued to organize th: group from the Brehm Fund for preserve the same habrtats. Iniernational Bird Conservation at the The newsletter will become an important Vogelpark, Walsrode, beginning in 1982. He set way of communicating within the 5lS Group. up a correspondence network that has been the The first two issues were produced annually. backbone of the organization and established Beginning in 1990, we will produce two issues a initiatives, primarily in Asia and Latin America. year. The newsletter belongs to all members of He was tireless in providing encouragement and the group and will be an important way for acivice to most of us working with these birds. everyone to communicate. We hope that you However, he felt that be had made his use it as a way of communication and will send ,,I contributions to the group and wished to us information on status of these birds in your concentrate his efforts on other conservation area as well as other information, such as issuesin l-atin America. He resigned in 1989. We upcoming meetings, publicattons of interest, will miss his leadership, but look forward to his etc. We look forward to your contributions to Ir continuing hefp and encouragement. the newsletter. Within the group, we (Malcolm and Koen) Malcolm Coulter Koen Brouwer \ view our roles as those of facilitation, and Savannah River National Foundation providing whatever iupport is possible. We ' Ecology Laboratory for Research in' look forward to working with each and every ! r Drawer E ZoologicalGardens * , oneofvou. ?*tr Aiken, SC 29801 P.O. Box 20164 'f-' lt will be important to continue the USA 1000 HD AmsterrJam communication that Charlie established. We The NetherlanCs

.t 's!---r-:_:- Blacknecked Stork. We saw Greater Adjutant Conservation Measures Storks between buildings and perched on houses. The species may be seen frequently in The Government of India is considering agricultural fields and dry areas, and does not whether to include the Greater Adjutant Stork seem to depend on wetlands. Despite this on Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) mutual tolerance between humans and Greater Act to provide complete protection. Among Adjutants, it has survived less well than the zoos that I have contacted it is not a popular perhaps Blacknecked Stork. I suspect four major causes exhibit species because of its extreme for the decline in numbers. ugliness. Very few are presently held in Indian zoos. Hence, trapping for zoos is not a major threat. In order to prepare a long-term conser- 1. Destruction of the breeding colonies in vation plan, it will be necessary to understand Burma. The vast breeding colonies reported in more thoroughly the present distribution and Burma during the last century have been habitat requirements. The Bombay Natural destroyed. No similarly large colonies haVe ever History Society has submitted a proposal to the been reported in India, so many of the Indian Government of India for a long-term field study birds probably came from Burma. Once the of Greater Adjutant Storks in India. Burmese colonies disappeared, the birds declined in India and other countries and the -- Asad R. Rahmani, Bombay Natural History Indian population now consists primarily of Society, India birds that breed local ly. ADJUTANT STORKS AT RISK 2- Pesticide poisoning. As already mentioned, IN ASSAM, INDIA use of pesticides is largely unrestricted in India. The Greater Adjutant Stork spends a great deal Among the ten species of siorks found in of time in agricultural fields and many birds Southeast Asia, seven are found is Assam, India. have probably accumulated large loads of Among the storks found in Assam, the Adjutant pesticides. They may face egg-shell thinning storks, particularly the Greater Adjutant and other detrimental factors associated with (Leptoptilos dubius), have been of special pesticides. concern because their populations have decreased in all of Southeast Asia. These soecies 3. Increase in the population of vultures. were formerly widespread in India, Sri Lanka, Studies of my colleagues Dr Robert Grubh, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Vietnam. Goutam Narayan and Satheesan of the Bombay However, due to changes in their feeding and Natural History Society have shown an increase breeding habitats, these storks have decreased , in populations of White-backed (Gyps in number in their former range. Because of the (Gyps bengalensis) and Long-billed Vultures uncertainty of their status, I conducted a survey indicusl. As these two species are dominant at of adjutant storks in Assam from 1987 through carcasses, they may not allow the Greater 1989. Prior to this survey, no attempt had been Adlutants to feed. For instance, a cow carcass made to determine the status of these birds in which we observed being flayed was pounced this area. upgn by nearly 100 vultures and the remains were eaten in a short time. The Greater Brahmaputra Valley Adjutants got nothing but the bones. On the

other hand, we saw an Adjutant eating freely The Brahmaputra Valtey comprises 14 I on a dog carcass with 15 vultures. Admittedly administrative districts out of 19 in Assam, and I two observations are not a sufficient base from has an area of 56,274 [62 (25"41' to 27o55'N which to draw conclusions. Additional observa- and 89"41' to 95o02'E). The valley consists of tionswill be needed. four distinct zones: Bhabar, Tarai, Highland and Floodplain. The Floodplain area is probably the 4. Lack of nesting sites. The Greater Adjutant most important to the storks. The Brahmaputra Stork nests large, in old trees. Many of these River has changed course over the millennia and trees have disappeared from a large part of th6 in the process has created over 1390 wetlands in stork's range. Additional observation will be the area. In all of Assam, there are 272 forest needed to show whether this is an important reserves, one national park, eight sanctuaries factor contributing to the decline of the species. and many unprotected forests which provide nesting and feeding habitats for birds.

6 Greater Adjutant Stork Lesser Adjutant Stork Status Status

(t. javanlcus) The survey revealed that this species has The Lesser Adjutant Stork has wetlands and declined f rom areas where it was once been widely distributed in abundant. I did not observe birds in wetlands floodplains as well as the agricultural fields of where they had been seen. The numbers are the Brahmaputra Valley. These storks were numbers very low in game sanctuaries. Only nine were found traditionally in substantial seen in Orang (24 March, 1989), and two in throughout the valley, particularly in the Kaziranga (28 April, 1989). I saw Greater Kamrup, Borpeta, Darrang, Nalbari and Adjutant Storks in Kamrup, Darrang, Sanitpur, Dibrugarh Districts. The stronghold has been Nowgang, Sibsagar, Jorhat and Dibrugarh Majuli, the largest river island with an area of Districts in the Brahmaputra Valley. A small 925 km2, located in the Jorhat District. population was also reported from Borpeta A maximum of six to seven birds were seen District. The maximum number observed on a at any one time. I estimated that there were single day was 56 in Tezpur (Sanitpur District) about 400 birds in Assam during the survey. I (Kamrup and 83 in Guwahati District). found nests in sanctuaries and the national oark as well as in areas outside these protected areas. Additional nests were observed in villages. As The numbers of birds were higher in the many as 40 nests were counted in Orang, 11 in winter (peak: March/April) than in the summer. Manas, 20 in Kaziranga and 11 in Lowkhowa I estimated that there were about 300 birds in Wildlife Sanctuary. Fifty-three nests were Assam. These are largely scavengers and were located outside the reserve forests in four seen in garbage centers, burial grounds and on districts: Borpeta, Sibsagar, Kamrup and animal carcasses in the main and satellite towns Dibrugarg. of the valley. The birds are found primarily in these urban areas. The floodplain, supporting large numbers of tall trees with thick water-logged undergrowth jutant I recorded birds in full breeding plumage is extremely attractive for Lesser Ad and juveniles in April which su!gested nesting. The trees most preferred include Ficus successful nesting. Although nefts of the sp., Anthacephalus indicus, Bombdx ceiba, Greater Adjutant Stork have not yet been Dillenia indica and Amora wallichii in both located, they probably breed Assam. protected and non-protected areas. However, \in lorv-lying forests are quickly However, nesting and roosting tree_S, such as these trees and the and Anthacephalus indicus, Ficus bengalensis, Ficus disappearing due to indiscriminate cutting expansion human residential areas. The religiosa and Bornbax ce_iba, are scattered and of areas are simultaneously scarce, and many have been cut down. wetlands and swampy diminishing as they are increasingly drained and used for agriculture, becoming dry through embankments along rivers, or lost through Conservation Measures eutrophication. Many permanent wetlands have been converted to temporary wetlands. Most important, the city and town garbage Conservation Measures centers which are the preferred foraging areas of Greater Adjutants must be maintained. The The low-lying forest areas and the tall trees roosting and nesting sites, the large trees near used as nesting sites must be maintained. urban centers, must also be protected. They Feeding areas near the nesting trees are shoufd be considered mini-reserves. lt is impor- essentia[. This is the first priority. Pesticide tant that local ethnic and religious groups do contamination is another strong concern. The not kill these birds. The Hindu religious norms application of pesticides in agricultural fields do not allow killing of Greater Adjutant Storks. must be controlled. Hunting must also be con- These beliefs will be important in protecting the trolled. At least one ethnic group kills Lesser species. Adjutants for meat and medicinal purposes (bill and skull).

1 t majority will be marketed Conclusions as food items, it is not inconceivable that live trade to Western bird- Both species of Adjutant Storks are still parks is stilltaking place. A monthly stork census found in the Brahmaputra Valley in substantial carried out along the South Sumatra coast from numbers. The habitat still appears to be suit- August 1988 through August 1989, suggests able for breeding and feeding- The religious that the species makes seasonal movements norms, particularly those of the Vishnavite during the non-breeding season. Hindus, have given overall protection to these birds. Many nesting sites, at least Lesser of the Lesser Adjutant Stofk Adjutant, were located outside protected areas. It must be concluded that Brahmaputra Valley, The Lesser Adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicusl and indeed Assam State, still maintains holds viable populations in a number of reasonable populations of these species. The provinces in Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan. lts area is suitable for developing and implement- main stronghold is South Sumatra Province, ing conservation programs for these storks. where small- to medium-sized groups are regularly sighted on the mudflats along the Acknowledgments coast, and at inland swam ps behind the mangrove fringe. Breeding sites have not yet We are grateful to DSTE Government of been located. A dramatic drop in numbers was Assam and the CS|R Government of India, New observed comparing October 1984 data wnen Delhi, for financial support during this survey. 1550 adjutants were present with 519 seen in November 1988 on a 100 km stretch of coastal -- Prasanta 5aikia and P.C. Bhattacharjee, muciflats. lt may be reasonable to assume that Gauhati University, Assam, India the same threats facing Milky Storks face the adiutants as well.

STATUS OF STORKS IN THE SOUTH SUMATRA PROVINCE, IN DON E SIA Storm's Stork

Indonesia supports five species of storks. Indonesia holds the core of the remaining The South Sumatra Province holds the core world population of this extremely rare stork population of four of the five Indonesian storks. species. The Storm's Stork (Ciconia stormii\ Their survival is threatened by destruction of occurs widely but in low densities in the eastern forests, tidal swamp land reclamation and lowlands of Sumatra, the Mentewai islands off development, and isolation of their forest and the west coast of Sumatra and in Kalimantan. lt swampy habitats. is found in undisturbed fresh water forests near the mangrove fringe. In April 1989, a Storm's Stork pair was observed building a nest in a Milky Stork Rhizophora tree. This finding constitutes the first record in an undisturbed environment. In Aerial surveys carried out in South Sumatra July, 1989, the two nestlings fledged. The Province in 1988 revealed the importance of this distribution area overlaps in south Sumatra with (Mycteria region for Milky Stork cinered. Three the Woollynecked Stork, which seems to be mixed nesting colonies were located with Great more numerous and better adapted to the Egret. In total, some 1,000 occupied stork nests disturbed habitats. The remaining Storm's Stork were counted. The total South Sumatran population in the province may well number population is estimated to reach 4,000. lts main less than 200 and is threatened by swamp forest habitats are the tidal forest fringe and adjacent conversion and forest logging activities. swamp forests. The species' future in this region remains uncertain due to plans to convert tidal Woollynecked Stork forest into large-scale brackish water fish farms, forest logging operations and conversion of The Woollynecked (Ciconia swamps for government sponsored transmigra- Stork episcopusl occurs widely in the southern province of tion projects. In addition human persecution is thought to be one population Sumatra. Both subspecies are recorded as of the main presumably limiting factors. A minimum of 100 Milky non-breeding visitors. The Woollynecked recorded Storks are likely taken each year. Although the Stork is from fresh water and peat swamp forest, open swamps,