Two greater adjutant stork chicks have been released into the wild for the first time ever recorded in the world, at a time when fewer than 1,000 adult Greater Adjutants remain globally.
The Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity (ACCB) announced on Thursday, November 20, that from hatching to release, its team successfully hand-raised the two chicks at the ACCB facility in Siem Reap province.
“From hatching to release, our team successfully raised two chicks and released them into the wild — the first time this has ever been achieved globally,” it announced, calling it “a major milestone”.
With only 200 to 250 mature individuals left in Cambodia, every step of this journey has been crucial, it added.
The greater adjutant — listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List — is the largest stork species in the world, standing 145–150cm tall with a 2.5-metre wingspan.
According to WCS Cambodia, only 800–1,000 adult Greater Adjutants exist globally. In Cambodia, 134 nests were recorded in 2014 in the Prek Toal Ramsar site in Battambang province.
The populations in Prek Toal (Cambodia) and Assam (India) represent about 90 per cent of the world’s total population of this species.
All nests in Cambodia are protected for six months by the Ministry of Environment’s park rangers, local communities of Prek Toal village, and WCS Cambodia. Between 150 and 200 pairs of greater adjutants live in the Prek Toal area.
