- News>
- Environment
Rare bird rediscovered in Myanmar forest
Yangon (Myanmar), June 18: Naturalists have rediscovered a rare bird in southern Myanmar not seen in the country for 89 years, Myanmar press reports said today.
Yangon (Myanmar), June 18: Naturalists have rediscovered a rare bird in southern Myanmar not seen in the country for 89 years, Myanmar press reports said today.
The Myanmar-language Kyemon daily said the "Gurney's
Pitta," last spotted in Myanmar in 1914, had been rediscovered
in May.
The species, which is listed by the World Conservation Union as critically endangered, was not seen anywhere between 1936 and 1986, when a small number were found in southern Thailand.
Kyemon reported that Gurney's Pitta was rediscovered in Tanintharyi division, also known as Tanessarim, during an expedition by Myanmar's bird enthusiasts and nature conservation association and British-based Bird Life International, under the auspices of the government's forest department.
The discovery of 10 to 12 pairs of the birds was initially reported earlier this month by Bird Life International, which warned that the bird still faces the threat of extinction due to deforestation, which destroys its lowland forest habitat.
Prospects for the survival of the species are shaky because of the lack of protected areas and Myanmar's poor capacity to implement protective measures, an expert said today.
But Philip Round, a professor of biology at Mahidol Unversity in Thailand, said the relatively large amount of forest cover which still exists in Myanmar, compared with neighbouring countries may help the bird survive.
Bureau Report
The species, which is listed by the World Conservation Union as critically endangered, was not seen anywhere between 1936 and 1986, when a small number were found in southern Thailand.
Kyemon reported that Gurney's Pitta was rediscovered in Tanintharyi division, also known as Tanessarim, during an expedition by Myanmar's bird enthusiasts and nature conservation association and British-based Bird Life International, under the auspices of the government's forest department.
The discovery of 10 to 12 pairs of the birds was initially reported earlier this month by Bird Life International, which warned that the bird still faces the threat of extinction due to deforestation, which destroys its lowland forest habitat.
Prospects for the survival of the species are shaky because of the lack of protected areas and Myanmar's poor capacity to implement protective measures, an expert said today.
But Philip Round, a professor of biology at Mahidol Unversity in Thailand, said the relatively large amount of forest cover which still exists in Myanmar, compared with neighbouring countries may help the bird survive.
Bureau Report