On croyait l'Ibis chauve limité à de petites colonies au Maroc et en Turquie, mais Birdlife International nous apprend qu'une petite colonie de 3 couples vine t d'être découverte en Syrie :

Cambridge, UK, 8th July 2002 - A new colony of critically endangered
Northern Bald Ibises has been discovered in an Al Badia (desertic steppe) area of central Syria, BirdLife International announced today. [1,2]. The small colony contains three pairs which were discovered incubating eggs,and a seventh adult.

This is the first evidence of the continued breeding of Northern Bald Ibises in the Middle East since a colony at Birecek in Turkey became extinct in 1989. Since then there have been sporadic sightings in Saudi Arabia and Eritrea, suggesting that a breeding population still existed somewhere
in the region. [3]

The new birds were found in spring 2002 by a team carrying out wildlife surveys on behalf of the Syrian Government?s Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform (MAAR) [1,4], and the news first reported in the latest issue of BirdLife's award-winning quarterly magazine, World Birdwatch,
published today.

Survey Team leader, Associate Professional Officer, Wildlife Expert, Gianluca Serra said, "Discovering this bird was like finding the Arabian Phoenix regenerated from the ashes. The survey work through remote and
rough terrain was some of the most exciting and challenging fieldwork we had ever
experienced. Throughout it all, my Syrian colleagues from MAAR, Ghazy Al-Qaim and Mahmoud Abdallah, were optimistic that Northern Bald Ibises still existed in the Al Badia or desertic steppe of central Syria
because we had received reports of their presence from Bedouin nomads and local
hunters, such as Mr Adib Assaed of Palmyra, who was instrumental in locating the birds."

The project staff responded quickly to the important discovery. Two guards,
Talal Fayad and A. Abdallah, both trained as birdwatching and eco-tourist guides at the Al Talila reserve, were appointed to watch over the colony 24 hours a day and collect data on the breeding cycle. Joint funding and
advice has been provided by the RSPB, the BirdLife International Partner in the
UK, who have considerable expertise in the conservation of Northern Bald Ibis in Morocco.

Dr Michael Rands, Director of BirdLife International, said "This fascinating
species, once common throughout much of the Middle East and southern Europe,
is now on the brink of global extinction, despite much conservation effort
in Morocco and Turkey. This fantastic discovery gives new hope that the
Northern Bald Ibis can be saved, and the BirdLife Partnership will do
all it can to assist the Syrian authorities to conserve this amazing threatened
species for future generations to enjoy."

Further details from Michael Szabo on +44 (0)1223 279 903.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1 The discovery was made within the framework of a "Range Rehabilitation
and Establishment of a Wildlife Reserve in the Syrian Steppe" project, funded by
the Italian Government through a co-operation programme aimed atdeveloping
countries and implemented by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The project is assisting the efforts of the Syrian Government to promote and implement natural resource and biodiversity
conservation within the country.

2 BirdLife International is a global alliance of national conservation
organisations working in more than 100 countries who, together, are the
leading authority on the status of the world?s birds, their habitats and the issues and problems affecting bird life.

3 The Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita) was formerly widespread
across the Mediterranean region, but has suffered a long-term decline and now
has an extremely small population. The reasons behind decline include human
persecution, loss of steppe or unintensive agricultural areas, pesticide
poisoning, human disturbance and dam construction. Until this recent
discovery, the total world population was put at 220 individual birds,
confined to two colonies in north-west Morocco. The Northern Bald Ibis
is classified as Critically Endangered according to the World Conservation
Union (IUCN) Red List criteria. This means it faces an extremely high risk
of extinction in the wild in the immediate future. See BirdLife International (2000) Threatened Birds of the World. Barcelona and
Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife.

4 The discovery was made at the end of an extensive two-year programme of
wildlife surveys aimed at producing a biodiversity inventory for Al Talila
Reserve, the first Syrian protected area and which will soon be open to visitors.

Généralités et Environnement

Des Ibis chauves en Syrie !