Reflection of Broader Loss
The loss of Asia's threatened birds from many sites is a measure of the more general deterioration of avian wildlife diversity in the region, BirdLife says.
Most of the threatened birds live in moist tropical forests, which are being rapidly logged. In addition, what BirdLife calls the "wholesale clearance" of lowland forests in Indonesia, Malaysia, southern Thailand, southern Myanmar, and Brunei is putting dozens of bird species at greater risk.
The Siberian crane, listed as endangered in 1994, is now listed as critically endangered, with an estimated 3,000 birds remaining in the wild.
There have been some modest successes in conservation efforts to prevent the loss of bird species in Asia. Species that have recovered somewhat since 1994 include the crested ibis and the black-faced spoonbill. Formerly listed as critically endangered, they are now considered endangered, but not critically so.
BirdLife credits the shift toward recovery to a combination of measures, a regional plan to protect various species, and increased public awareness.
A global survey of birds done by BirdLife International in 2000 identified a total of 1,111 bird species—11 percent of the world's birds—as threatened. Four of those species are already extinct in the wild.
More than a fifth of all bird species give "some cause for concern in terms of global extinction risk," BirdLife said, and many of the remaining 80 percent are declining in overall numbers.
(c) 2001 Environmental News Network
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