Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2021 | 13(9): 19370–19372
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7222.13.9.19370-19372
#7222 | Received 01 March 2021 | Final
received 12 August 2021 | Finally accepted 15 August 2021
White-bellied Heron Ardea insignis in Hkakabo Razi
Landscape, northern Myanmar
Myint Kyaw 1, Paul J.J. Bates 2,
Marcela Suarez-Rubio 3, Bran Shaung
4, Han Nyi Zaw 5,
Thein Aung 6, Sai Sein Lin Oo
7 & Swen
C. Renner 8
1 Popa Mountain Park, Kyaukpadaung, Mandalay Region, Myanmar.
2 Harrison Institute, Bowerwood House, 15, St Botolph’s Road, Sevenoaks, Kent,
TN13 3AQ, UK.
3 Institute of Zoology, University
of Natural Resources and Life Science, Gregor-Mendel-Straße
33, 1180 Vienna, Austria.
4 Hponkan Razi
Wildlife Sanctuary, Putao, Kachin, Myanmar.
5 Hkakabo Razi
National Park Headquarters, Putao, Kachin, Myanmar.
6 Myanmar Bird and Nature Society,
Hlaing Township, Yangon, Myanmar.
7 Department of Zoology, University
of Mandalay, 05032 Maha Aung Myay
Township, Mandalay, Myanmar.
8 Ornithology, Natural History
Museum Vienna, Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria.
1 myintkyawpopa@gmail.com, 2 pjjbates2@hotmail.com,
3 marcela.suarezrubio@boku.ac.at, 4 branshaung.hknp@gmail.com,
5 hannyizaw1992@gmail.com, 6 theinaung58@gmail.com,
7 saiseinlinoo@mu.edu.mm,
8 swen.renner@nhm-wien.ac.at
(corresponding author)
Editor: Hem S. Baral,
Charles Sturt University, Albury, Australia. Date
of publication: 26 August 2021 (online & print)
Citation: Kyaw, M., P.J.J. Bates, M.
Suarez-Rubio, B. Shaung, H.N. Zaw,
T. Aung, S.S.L. Oo & S.C. Renner (2021). White-bellied Heron Ardea insignis in Hkakabo Razi
Landscape, northern Myanmar. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(9): 19370–19372. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7222.13.9.19370-19372
Copyright: © Kyaw et al. 2021. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Funding to visit the field was provided by UNESCO (grants 4500291033, 7833010728) for
2016 and by the National Geographic Society
(GEFNE48-12) for 2013/14; to
visit collections the EU SYNTHESYS framework provided funding (FR-TAF-6275,
DE-TAF-6206, ES-TAF-2501, AT-TAF-2481, GB-TAF-108, SE-TAF-1312, NL-TAF-4369,
GB-TAF-4367, DK-TAF-4963).
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We thank the staff of Hkakabo Razi National Park for logistical support; numerous
porters, cooks, and assistants for their help during the expeditions. We thank
ministries for granting access permission and local communities for valuable
insight and support for ongoing work in the region.
The
White-bellied Heron Ardea insignis
Hume, 1878 is a ‘Critically Endangered’ species with a highly fragmented
distribution and a small population (BirdLife
International 2018). Its range is considered small (56,300 km²) and extends
from Bhutan through northeastern India to northern
Myanmar, mostly with extremely low densities and few observations since 2010.
It has a low reproduction rate, with a generation length estimated to be 10.5
years, and suffers comparatively high levels of mortality (BirdLife
International 2018). In consequence, its population, which was never abundant,
is in ongoing decline, although the causes of the recent decline are not fully
understood. On the basis of habitat degradation and widespread disturbance,
even in remote parts of the species’ range (Stanley-Price & Goodman 2015;
Menzies et al. 2020), the White-bellied Heron population is likely at
high risk of extinction with a global population estimated somewhere between
70–400 individuals (IUCN 2018). Historic records show that the species was
widely distributed in Myanmar (Stanley-Price & Goodman 2015), but recent
records are only from Kachin (Image 1).
Based on
observation, the preferred habitat of the White-bellied Heron is small to large
rivers, adjacent to relatively large forest tracts and with low human impact (BirdLife International 2018). These habitats are decreasing
rapidly throughout the species’ range, but suitable habitat is still abundant
in northern Myanmar, where the Hkakabo Razi Landscape
is predicted to be one of the last refuges for this species. The area has
highly suitable habitats, which include streams and rivers, wetlands, and grasslands,
all associated with almost untouched broadleaf forest in mountainous areas
(Suarez-Rubio et al. 2020). However, even for northern Kachin, in 2016,
the population is estimated at only between 26–28 birds and known localities
are imprecise, such as “near Putao” or “observed in
region” (Smythies 1986; BirdLife
International 2001; King et al. 2001; Rappole
et al. 2011). Since 2011, there have been no published records from the
Hkakabo Razi Landscape (Stanley-Price & Goodman
2015; Renner & Bates 2020; GBIF 2021).
During a
series of bird surveys (2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020),
our team observed the White-bellied Heron in Hkakabo Razi
Landscape. Although our surveys targeted all water birds along the rivers, they
show a consistent picture of the presence of the White-bellied Heron in the
Hkakabo Razi Landscape, with all but one record
documented with a photo:
(a) One
foraging in the Shinsan stream about 2.5 km north of Gawlai on 10 and 11 March 2016 (three observations over
several days in March 2016 of probably the same individual along a stretch of
the Shinsan stream; Image 2); the species was also
observed at this site on 26 February 2018;
(b) One on
the Nam Ro Stream near Wasadam village at a potential
roosting site on a tree in 2017 and 21 January 2018;
(c) One in
grassland close to Tan Jar stream at Lone Shanyan
village (= Long Shan Yang = Lung Sha Yang; south-east of Putao
on the way to Myitkyina) on 01 November 2020;
(d) One
individual and a pair observed in the Tan Jar stream in December 2020;
(e) One
foraging in Ma Jaw War stream close to Putao in
November 2020.
Worldwide,
since 2015, there seem to be only a few small, isolated localities with regular
observations of White-bellied Herons (Image 1): Bhutan, Namdapha
area in India, and the Hkakabo Razi Landscape.
Following the record from the Myitkyina to Sinbo
stretch of the Ayeyarwady, including onwards to Bhamo (Zöckler et al.
2020), there needs to be further surveys to determine the current status. The
absence of recent records from Hukaung Valley
Wildlife Sanctuary probably results from the inaccessibility of the area to
researchers rather than reflecting a natural decline in the White-bellied Heron
population. The relatively small number of surveys in northern Kachin compared
to recent surveys in Bhutan (GBIF 2021) is likely a contributory factor biasing
the number of observations. We hypothesize that repeated monitoring at the
explicitly same localities in Kachin could yield indications for a stable
source population of the species.
Within
Myanmar, the White-bellied Heron has the highest level of legal protection
under Myanmar’s ‘Protection of Wildlife and Conservation of Natural Areas
Law-1994’. Nevertheless, wildlife law enforcement is difficult in rural Kachin
for a broad range of reasons, including inaccessibility because of terrain, and
disagreement between locals and central government on natural resources
management. The White-bellied Heron is thought to be threatened by a
combination of illegal fishing methods; pollution; sand, gravel, and gold
mining; and human disturbance (Stanley-Price & Goodman 2015; IUCN 2018).
Dam development is an ongoing and postulated future threat, particularly for
the Mali Hka/Nam Tamai river catchments (i.e.,
anything north of Myitkyina), whilst rapid illegal deforestation, often linked
to illegal mining and illegal cross-border trade, is an ever-growing current
threat, particularly in eastern Kachin. In addition, much of the range of the
White-bellied Heron in Kachin coincides with areas occupied by diverse ethnic
groups who have strong tendencies to hunt wildlife for subsistence.
The Hkakabo
Razi Landscape is the meeting point of three
biodiversity hotspots: Indo-Burma, Himalaya, and mountains of southwestern
China. These hotspots overlap with the protected areas Hkakabo Razi National Park and Hponkan Razi Wildlife Sanctuary. The Hkakabo Razi
Landscape possesses some of the least disturbed habitat of lowland wetlands,
associated with forest, within mountainous areas. It is home to one of the
largest remaining tracts of mainly intact forest in southeastern
Asia (Suarez-Rubio et al. 2020) and therefore offers some of the most
suitable habitat and reproductive conditions for the White-bellied Heron. In
2014, the Hkakabo Razi Landscape was proposed as a
World Heritage Site under criteria (ix) and (x) for its high integrity and
outstanding ecological values (World Heritage Centre 2014; Renner & Bates
2020; Suarez-Rubio et al. 2020; Bates et al. 2021).
Unfortunately, our most recent records of White-bellied Herons from the Hkakabo
Razi Landscape are located just outside the two
formally protected areas (namely the Hkakabo Razi
National Park and the Hponkan Razi
Wildlife Sanctuary). Therefore, we suggest nominating the Nam Tisang River (passing through Naung
Mung) and Rat Nam Ti or Nam Hat River (passing
through Gahtu/Gawlai) as Ramsar sites, and we support plans for the nomination of
the entire Hkakabo Razi Landscape as a World Heritage
site.
References
Bates, P.J.J., P. Soisook, S.S.L. Oo, M. Suarez-Rubio, A. Pimsai,
A. Dejtaradol & S.C. Renner (2021). Intact
forests of the Hkakabo Razi Landscape are a hotspot
of bat diversity in South-east Asia. Oryx 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605320000630
BirdLife
International (2001). Threatened Birds of Asia: The BirdLife
International Red Data Book. In: Collar, N.J., A.V. Andreev, S. Chan, M.J.
Crosby, S. Subramanya & J.A. Tobias (eds.). Threatened Birds of Asia.
BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
BirdLife
International (2018). Ardea insignis. The
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018. Downloaded on 18 August
2021. e.T22697021A134201407. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22697021A134201407.en
GBIF (2021). GBIF occurrence downloads: Ardea
insignis. https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.yhj93d
Hume, G. (1878). Ardea insignis. Stray
Feathers: 6:470.
King, B.F., H. , R. Ferguson, T. Fisher, C. Goblet, H. Nickel & W.
Suter (2001). Birds recorded during two expeditions to North Myanmar (Burma). Forktail: 29-40.
Menzies, R.K., M. Rao & R. Naniwadekar (2020).
Assessing the Status of the Critically Endangered White-bellied Heron Ardea insignis in north-east India. Bird
Conservation International 31(2): 255–267. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959270920000301
Rappole, J.H., T.
Aung, P.C. Rasmussen & S.C. Renner (2011).
Ornithological exploration in the southeastern sub-Himalayan region of Myanmar,
pp. 10–29. In: Morrison, M.L. (ed.). Ornithological Monographs. American
Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, DC.
Renner, S.C. & P.J.J. Bates (2020). Historic
changes in species composition for a globally unique bird community. Scientific
Reports 10: 10739. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67400-z
Smythies, B. (1986).
The birds of Burma. UK: Nimrod Press and Pickering, Canada: Silvio Mattachione.
Stanley-Price, M. & G. Goodman (2015).
White-bellied heron (Ardea insignis):
Conservation strategy. IUCN Species Survival Commission White-bellied Heron
Working Group, part of the IUCN SSC Heron Specialist Group.
Suarez-Rubio, M., G. Connette, T. Aung, M.
Kyaw & S.C. Renner (2020). Hkakabo Razi
Landscape as one of the last exemplar of large contiguous forests. Scientific
Reports 10: 14005. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70917-y
World Heritage Center (2014). Hkakabo Razi Landscape (Tentative Lists Ref.: 5871) (downloaded at https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5871/).
Tentative lists of World Heritage 2020.
Zöckler, C., N
Lwin, T.Z. Tun, S. Pfützke,
F. Momberg, J. van der Ven
& S. Delany (2020). Surveys of riverine birds along the Ayeyarwady River in 2017–2019 and conservation
implications. Forktail 36: 1-15.