Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report - IUCN

Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report
The species used to be widespread in south and central Lao
PDR, but recent observations come only from Xe Pian NBCA
and Dong Khanthung PNBCA, with villager reports from
nearby Dong Hua Sao NBCA (Table 11). Evidence from captive
birds suggested that small numbers still visited and even
attempted breeding in the wetlands south and east of
Savannakhet into the late 1980s. Two were reported near Ban
Sompoy (Xe Pian NBCA) in November 1997 to Robichaud
(1998e), but the only post-1996 record is of a single in Dong
Khanthung PNBCA on 24 July 1998 (Round 1998).
Conservation Management and Research Proposed for
Cranes:
• Enforcement of existing ban on hunting and trade, with
special attention to nest robbing. Cranes are at higher
risk from opportunistic theft of eggs and chicks than are
other large waterbirds, as they nest on the ground. Thus
effective protection of nesting areas may best involve
regulation of entry or passage for any purpose.
• Protection of remaining nesting and feeding habitat (in
Xe Pian NBCA, Dong Khanthung PNBCA and any other
areas found to support the species) by drafting and
enforcement of appropriate protective measures with stiff
penalties for violators.
• Education campaigns in all areas still supporting
the species.
• Investigation of wetlands in Savannakhet Province, to
check if cranes remain.
Heliornithidae: Finfoots (1 species)
• Heliopais personata Masked Finfoot. Conservation Significance:
Globally Threatened - Vulnerable; At Risk in Lao
PDR. Documented Range and Habitat: Seasonal status unclear,
but probable wet-season breeder; south B14 . Lowland
sluggish rivers and streams amid open forest. Status Information:
Records prior to 1997 were reviewed by Thewlis et
al. (1998). First recorded in 1993, finfoots have been found
quite widely in the Xe Kong basin, including in two existing
and two proposed NBCAs (Xe Pian, Dong Ampham, Phou
Kathong and Bolaven Southwest) and in Dong Khanthung
PNBCA (Davidson et al. 1997, Round 1998, Thewlis et al.
1998).
Conservation Management and Research Proposed for
Finfoots:
• Complete year-round legal protection from hunting.
• Protection of remaining nesting and feeding habitat (in
the Xe Kong basin, Dong Khanthung PNBCA and any
other areas found to support the species) by drafting and
enforcement of appropriate protective measures with stiff
penalties for violators.
• Education campaigns throughout the species’s Lao range.
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• River catchment conservation measures as populations
are likely to be spread along rivers, indicating that sitespecific
management is probably insufficient to conserve
viable populations.
• Field investigation of major threats to the species, particularly
the balance between direct persecution and indirect
disturbance.
Rallidae: Rails, crakes, waterhens, coots (11-12 species)
[Rallina fasciata Red-legged Crake]. Seasonal status unclear;
south (provisionally B11 ). Pools amid lowland deciduous
forest. First recorded from Lao PDR in July 1998, when
calling birds were heard at several localities in Dong
Khanthung PNBCA (Round 1998). No birds were seen and
the surveyor documented the records as provisional.
Rallina eurizonoides Slaty-legged Crake. Seasonal status
unclear; south (Evans et al. 1996b). Sole observation in Lao
PDR was of a bird in a wet runnel in closed-canopy dry evergreen
forest at 400 m in 1996, in Dong Hua Sao NBCA (Evans
et al. 1996b; TDE). An earlier reference to the species in Lao
PDR (Wells and Medway 1976) was in error as the site
(Ok Yam) is on the coastal Cambodia - Thai border (Robinson
1915: 720).
Gallirallus striatus (= Rallus striatus, ^K, ^T) Slaty-breasted
Rail. Presumed resident; north (historically B21 ), centre
(historically B22 ), south B2 . Wetlands. With few recent records,
the species’s conservation status should be reconsidered at
regular intervals.
Rallus aquaticus Water Rail. Winter visitor; north
(historically B21 ). Wetlands. Lao records of this species were
reviewed by David-Beaulieu (1944). Three specimens were
reported from a Vientiane market by Srikosamatara et al.
(1992) but their identification and origin are unclear (B.
Siripholdej verbally 1999).
Amaurornis phoenicurus White-breasted Waterhen. Resident;
north B1 , centre, south B2 . Most types of wetlands with
access to dense cover, although generally not on fast-flowing
streams or small forest wetlands; up to at least 1100 m.
• Porzana bicolor (= Amaurornis bicolor, ^Sm) Black-tailed
Crake. Conservation Significance: Little Known in Lao PDR.
Documented Range and Habitat: Resident; north
(historically B21 ). Dense marshy brushland at mid - high altitudes.
Status Information: Recorded only in Xiangkhouang
(David-Beaulieu 1944) and Phongsali Provinces (Bangs and
Van Tyne 1931). The species is very skulking and difficult to
record (David-Beaulieu 1944, Inskipp and Round 1989). The
lack of recent records means little, as David-Beaulieu used a