10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2016

A breeding program in Turkey has been successful, but civil war in neighboring Syria seems to have posed a significant hazard. For the past few years, many of the Ibises that migrated southward, across Syria, haven’t returned. Add to hunting, poisoning, and habitat loss and disturbance yet another man-made danger: war.

Syria 40

Syria Turkey Birds Breeding 40

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Do try and get it right) is found from the Canary Islands to India; in the Middle East it is found in oases and dry barely vegetated wadis like the one I saw them in, in the drier areas of Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, UAE and Iran. A whole bunch coming for a drink.

United Arab Emirates 69

United Arab Emirates Saudi Arabia Sparrows Oman 69

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

Then in 2002, the news of a dramatic discovery of a relict colony in Palmyra, Syria, a country where they had been declared extinct for 70 years was greeted with jubilation. Small semi-captive populations also exist in Spain and Austria and a reintroduction program from the Birecik population has been started in Syria.

Endangered Species 95

Endangered Species Species South Africa Birds 95

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2011

It now exists only in 4 breeding colonies at 2 locations on the coast of Morocco and a recently rediscovered relict colony in Syria, where it had been declared extinct for 70 years. By 300 years ago it had disappeared from the whole of Europe and this pattern followed in the Middle East and North Africa.

Birds 103

Birds South Africa Woodpeckers Africa 103