New population of Greater Adjutant stork, world’s rarest, booming in India

June 2008: While the world's Greater adjutant stork population is declining, a recently discovered population in Bihar has been growing steadily, says Arvind Mishra, member of the State Wildlife Board.

"The population of Greater adjutant storks in Bhagalpur has almost doubled from last year, to at least 157 individuals," said Mishra, who along with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) is working to conserve the species in the state.

Mishra discovered the breeding population of the storks along the Kosi and Ganga flood plains in the winter of 2006. Prior to this discovery, they were known only from Cambodia and the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, with the worldwide population of less than 800 individuals.

"We found two nests of Greater adjutant storks in Motichak, and we later found 16 more nests in Kadwa Kosi diara," Mishra said.

Threats
The initial excitement of the discovery however was overshadowed by the looming threats facing these storks. Because of their size (about 150 cm), they fall easy prey to some local tribesmen, known as 'Gulgulwas'. Their behaviour of nesting in colonies also worked against them. In addition, the local villagers, annoyed at the birds dirtying their compounds, resorted to felling the branches of the trees, destroying the nests and scaring the storks away.

It was apparent that without protection, survival of these storks in Bihar was doubtful.

Under a Rapid Action Project funded by the WTI, Mishra organised awareness programmes and employed villagers as watchers to protect the nesting colonies from poachers. He also motivated forest officials, media, police, school teachers and students to support his campaign.

"Continuous surveillance and awareness programmes conducted with WTI's help have proven very efficient in protecting the storks," said Mishra. "Last year, there were 16 nests and some 81 birds including 25 chicks in Kosi diara alone; this year, we found 32 nests with 62 chicks successfully fledged from both Kosi and Ganga diaras. This increase in the number as well as the range will be crucial for their long-term survival," he added.

Assam population
WTI has also funded similar projects to protect the breeding populations of these storks in Assam, where about 80 percent of the world's population survive. Mishra believes that more colonies of these storks may be found in Bihar. "There is an urgent need for a state-wide survey to find more of such colonies." he says.

IUCN Red List
Identified by a loose neck pouch, pinkish bare head, thick yellowish bill and huge dark body, the Greater adjutant stork is classified as 'endangered' in the IUCN red list of threatened species. Sightings in Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand, experts believe, are results of 'straying away' from the populations of either India or Cambodia.