 Sarus crane. (Photo: wikimedia.org) |
The Brahminy duck, Chinese magpie and Sarus crane, all of which make their migratory home in the Irrawaddy delta, were among the already threatened varieties of bird life hard hit by the violent winds and flooding that accompanied the May cyclone. Seagulls also suffered in large numbers.
Soe Nyunt, chairman of the Myanmar (Burma) Bird and Nature Society, said the Brahminy duck and Sarus crane were already threatened with extinction in Burma.
Burma has more than 1,000 species of bird, many of which inhabit lowlands such as the Irrawaddy delta and the coast.
Forty three threatened species have been registered with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Five are listed as “Critically Endangered”—the white-shouldered ibis, white-rumped vulture, slender-billed vulture, pink-headed duck and Gurney’s pitta.
The Irrawaddy delta’s mangrove swamps, inundated by the cyclone, provide a natural habitat for birds, as well as for fish, crabs and prawns.
“After saving the lives of people in storm-hit areas, we now have to rehabilitate the environment and ecosystem destroyed by the cyclone,” Soe Nyunt said.
Rangoon-based journalist Kyi Wai also contributed to this report.
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