Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity
Great success
First chick from a Greater Adjutant
The Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity (ACCB) in Cambodia can present a virtually unique breeding success at its conservation centre.
The first chick from a Greater Adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius) clutch hatched on December 24, 2022. Successful breeding of this highly endangered bird has only been achieved once before in a zoological institution, but those two chicks failed to be successfully raised. The Greater Adjutant is rare in zoological facilities, and the ACCB holds what is likely the largest breeding group worldwide.
The Greater Adjutant is an imposing bird. With a body length of around 150 cm and a wingspan of 250 cm, it is significantly larger than a White Stork. However, in stark contrast to the White Stork, its wild populations are drastically declining.
Its habitat is wetlands, where it nests on tall trees and occasionally on rocky cliffs. It was once enormously common, ranging from India to Vietnam. Today, its occurrence is concentrated in the Brahmaputra Valley in India and Cambodia. It has been virtually eradicated from the rest of its former range.
Due to its drastic population decline, it has been classified as Endangered since 1994, and its global population is estimated to be below 1,200 adult birds. Reasons for this include direct persecution, the felling of nesting trees, the draining of wetlands, and intentional poisoning, as it is seen as a competitor to fishermen due to its diet. It is also suspected that, similar to vultures, it is sensitive to medications like Diclofenac and Fenbendazole, which it ingests via carrion.
The Greater Adjutant is rarely kept. A total of only 13 birds are known to be in zoological institutions worldwide, nine of which are kept at the ACCB. The significance of the ACCB for this bird species lies in the fact that maintaining this colony has allowed the team in Cambodia to gain the necessary experience that has led to the current success.
Announcement: ACCB achieves world-first conservation milestone.
After 9 months of dedicated care at our conservation center in Siem Reap, we have successfully raised and released two captive-bred Greater Adjutant Stork chicks into Siem Pang Wildlife Sanctuary. This achievement represents years of protocol development, from hatching to post-release monitoring, and collaborative conservation efforts with Rising Phoenix and the Ministry of Environment. Read Reuters' full article below.
The first chick hatched on December 24, 2022, followed by the second two days later, on December 26. Both chicks are being well cared for by the parents and are healthy. This is highly significant because only one other zoological institution has successfully bred the Greater Adjutant, but the chicks there died during the rearing process. If the parents and the team at the ACCB manage to successfully raise the chicks, the centre will have achieved the global first successful breeding. Hope remains that this will succeed for the sake of the species.
