Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report - IUCN

Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 Status Report
the species occurs, but Round (1998) stressed the need
for restraint by those who would identify ibises to species
using local names and descriptions.
• Pseudibis gigantea Giant Ibis. Conservation Significance:
Globally Threatened - Critical; At Risk in Lao PDR; endemic
to parts of Thailand and southern Indochina, but extirpated
over much of this range. Documented Range and Habitat:
Seasonal status unclear; centre (historically B22 ), south B14 .
Pools, seasonal streams and river banks within open lowland
forest. Status Information: Records prior to 1997 were
reviewed by Thewlis and Timmins (1996) and Thewlis et al.
(1998). The few historical records are outnumbered by
recent sightings, from both Xe Pian NBCA and Dong
Khanthung PNBCA. However, the great effort made to locate
the species since 1992 indicates that populations have
surely decreased in the last few decades. Post-1996 records
come from Dong Khanthung PNBCA (Round 1998). A claim
from the Houay Kaliang (Xe Pian NBCA) of a flock of five
(Baird 1997) lacks any substantiating description.
Pelecanidae: Pelicans (1 species)
• Pelecanus philippensis Spot-billed Pelican. Conservation
Significance: Globally Threatened - Vulnerable; At Risk in
Lao PDR. Documented Range and Habitat: Presumed wet
season non-breeding visitor; centre B17 , south B14 . Mekong and
major tributaries, large pools and lakes. Status Information:
Records prior to 1997 were reviewed by Thewlis et al. (1998).
Historically the species visited the south regularly, and unidentified
pelicans were recorded occasionally in central Lao
PDR. There are few recent records: an injured bird found in
Dong Khanthung PNBCA in August 1996 was reportedly
one of two, and a captive observed in Pakxe in mid 1997
(Robson 1997b; Plate 11) was probably one of the 1996 birds.
A bill of a bird shot near Hin Namno NBCA in November
1997 was seen there in early 1998 (Walston in prep.). This
latter area, in the Annamite foothills, is away from the major
lowland wetlands used by the species. The record is a remarkable
parallel to a bill in a hunter’s possession on the
other side of the Annamites, near Vu Quang Nature Reserve,
Vietnam (Eames et al. 1994a). These records suggest that
the Annamites are used as a dispersal route. Reference to
occurrence in north Lao PDR by King et al. (1975) reflects
Delacour and Jabouille’s (1940) statement of the species’s
range as ‘Mekong and tributaries in Cambodia and
Laos’(E. C. Dickinson in litt. 1999); we have traced no primary
record from the north.
Ciconiidae: Storks (7 species)
• Mycteria leucocephala (= Ibis leucocephalus, ^K) Painted
126
Stork. Conservation Significance: Globally Near-Threatened;
At Risk in Lao PDR. Documented Range and Habitat:
Seasonal status unclear; north B14 , centre (historically B22 ),
south (historically B19 ; provisionally, Cunningham 1998).
Large wetlands. Status Information: Records prior to 1997
were reviewed by Thewlis et al. (1998). Formerly small flocks
occurred throughout the country but the only recent record is
of a wandering group in northern Vientiane Province in June
1996. One was provisionally identified in December 1996
near Ban Hangkhon (Champasak Province; Cunningham
1998). It is clear that numbers have plummetted.
• Anastomus oscitans Asian Openbill. Conservation Significance:
Globally Near-Threatened; At Risk in Lao PDR. Documented
Range and Habitat: Non-breeding visitor; south B14 .
Not yet recorded east of the Mekong. Wetlands. Status Information:
The first records for Lao PDR came from Dong
Khanthung PNBCA in August 1996 and July 1998 (Round
1998, Thewlis et al. 1998). They are presumed to relate to
birds dispersing from Cambodian breeding colonies.
• Ciconia nigra Black Stork. Conservation Significance: At
Risk in Lao PDR; CITES Appendix II. Documented Range
and Habitat: Winter visitor; north (PDR), centre B10 . Wetlands,
probably mainly in and near forest. Status Information:
Records prior to 1996 were reviewed by Duckworth et al.
(1998a). Historical and recent records all indicate that the
species is of infrequent occurrence. Records come from, historically,
various sites in the north (Delacour and Greenway
1940a, David-Beaulieu 1944) but recently only from the
Nakai Plateau (Evans and Timmins 1998, Duckworth et al.
1998a) with one record of a single flying from Myanmar to
Lao PDR over the Mekong upstream of Chiang Saen (Thailand)
on 25 December 1983 (PDR). The eastern population
of this species was estimated recently to number only 2000
birds and to be in decline (Perennou et al. 1994). All large
waterbirds are persecuted and this species should be considered
At Risk in Lao PDR.
• Ciconia episcopus Woolly-necked Stork. Conservation
Significance: At Risk in Lao PDR. Documented Range and
Habitat: Resident; north (historically B21 ), centre
(historically B22 ), south B2 . River banks, pools including those
within open and dense forest and grassland. Status Information:
Records prior to 1997 were reviewed by Thewlis et al.
(1998). The decline of this species is among the most dramatic
of all Lao birds. Formerly, Engelbach (1932) dealt with
its status in southern Lao PDR in one word: ‘common’, and
it was recorded widely elsewhere, although it was clearly
much less common in the north. Today, it is only known in
Lao PDR from a few sites in the south (Table 11). Dong
Khanthung PNBCA and Xe Pian NBCA support most of this
species’s Lao population, although birds are seen elsewhere
(e.g. Cunningham 1998). A breeding colony was reported in