Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report - IUCN

Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report
population monitoring programme.
• Field investigation of the status and conservation needs
of quails. There are very few recent records of quails.
Declines in them could be going un-noticed as conservation
attention is currently focussed on forests and
wetlands.
• Long-term continuation of the existing CPAWM/WCS
poster campaign urging protection of Green Peafowl,
Siamese Fireback and Crested Argus.
Dendrocygnidae: Whistling-ducks (1 species)
Dendrocygna javanica Lesser Whistling-duck (= Lesser
Tree-duck, ^K). Resident; north B2 , centre B10 , south B2 .
Marshes, lakes, paddy-fields, slow rivers; generally lowlands
and plateaux. The species remains widespread although numbers
are generally small, presumably because of persecution;
the highest numbers recorded recently (over 1200) were at
Ban Sivilai, Vientiane Province (Parr and Parr 1998). The
species’s conservation status should be reconsidered at regular
intervals.
Anatidae: Geese, ducks (14 species)
• Anser cygnoides Swan Goose. Conservation Significance:
Globally Threatened - Vulnerable; At Risk in Lao PDR. Documented
Range and Habitat: Vagrant; north (per PDR). Large
wetlands. Status Information: The sole Lao record was of a
single in the main Mekong channel seen from Chiang Saen
(Thailand) on 1 January 1996 (Robson 1996; per PDR).
• Anser anser Greylag Goose. Conservation Significance:
At Risk in Lao PDR. Documented Range and Habitat: Winter
visitor; centre B10 . Large wetlands. Status Information: Sole
Lao record, in 1994, was on a large pool on the Nakai Plateau
among 200 wild ducks (Evans and Timmins 1998).
• Anser indicus Bar-headed Goose. Conservation Significance:
At Risk in Lao PDR. Documented Range and Habitat:
Winter visitor; north (per PDR). Large wetlands. Status
Information: Lao records come only from the main Mekong
channel around Chiang Saen (Thailand): four in January 1984
and five in January 1996 (per PDR).
• Tadorna ferruginea Ruddy Shelduck. Conservation Significance:
At Risk in Lao PDR. Documented Range and
Habitat: Winter visitor; north B9 . Large wetlands. Status Information:
So far only recorded from the Mekong River. The
first explicit Lao record was in 1995 (Duckworth et al. 1998a),
although birds seen from Thailand may pre-date this.
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• Tadorna tadorna Common Shelduck. Conservation Significance:
At Risk in Lao PDR. Documented Range and
Habitat: Vagrant; north (Robson 1989). Large wetlands. Status
Information: The sole Lao record was of a single in the
main Mekong channel seen from Chiang Saen (Thailand) on
16 December 1988 (Robson 1989).
• Cairina scutulata White-winged Duck. Conservation Significance:
Globally Threatened - Endangered; At Risk in Lao
PDR; CITES Appendix I. Documented Range and Habitat:
Resident; centre, south B14 . Slower-moving stretches of
forested streams and rivers, pools in forest; up to 600 m
(Evans et al. 1997). Status Information: Records prior to 1997
were reviewed by Evans et al. (1997) and summarised in
Thewlis et al. (1998). Green’s (1993) detailed global status
review pre-dated most of the recent Lao information, but Lao
results were set in an international context by Rose and Scott
(1997), who estimated a world population of only 450 birds.
The species still occurs both on the Nakai Plateau and in the
Xe Kong basin / Bolaven Plateau area (the two foci of historical
records), but numbers are small. Small numbers persist
also in Dong Khanthung PNBCA (Round 1998; Plate
11). The population in southern Lao PDR is likely to be contiguous
with those in northern Cambodia and adjacent Thailand,
and so may form a component of one of the largest
populations in the world. Suggestions for further survey
areas and conservation action are given in Evans et al. (1997).
• Sarkidiornis melanotos Comb Duck. Conservation Significance:
At Risk in Lao PDR; CITES Appendix II. Documented
Range and Habitat: Seasonal status unclear; centre
(historically B22 ). Sole Lao record was on a large pool. Status
Information: The species has only ever been recorded once
in Lao PDR (David-Beaulieu 1949-1950, Thewlis et al. 1998)
and perhaps was only ever an irregular visitor or scarce resident.
Although Thewlis et al. (1998) listed the species as
Potentially At Risk in Lao PDR, if any individuals do persist
in or visit Lao PDR, they are surely At Risk.
• Nettapus coromandelianus Cotton Pygmy-goose. Conservation
Significance: At Risk in Lao PDR. Documented Range
and Habitat: Resident; north (historically B21 ), centre
(Perennou and Mundkur 1991), south B2 . Wetlands. Status
Information: Birds were observed daily on pools or in open
marshes in the Northern Zone of Xe Pian NBCA in dry season
1992-1993 (up to 55) and on the Bolaven Plateau in early
1995 (up to 24) (Thewlis et al. 1996, Claridge 1996,
Duckworth et al. 1998a). Small numbers (under 11) were
found in Dong Khanthung PNBCA in 1996 and 1998 (Round
1998; J. Barzen in litt. to TDE). The only recent record from
central Lao PDR is of 15 at Nong Kom, Savannakhet Province
in January 1991 (Perennou and Mundkur 1991; Claridge
1996). In all areas the species is local and not numerous; e.g.
Round (1998) in extensive work in Dong Khanthung PNBCA