Record rare images of large storks

For the first time in nearly 100 years, the province of Koh Kong (Cambodia) has recorded the image of an individual stork of Thaumatibis giganteawas - the largest stork of the world - in Kampong Som Valley in the province. This is an important event in the context of the above mentioned stork species being listed as extremely endangered in the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

There are only about 100 pairs of Thaumatibis giganteawas that are fertile, most of them in Cambodia and a few in Laos and Vietnam.

Thaumatibis giganteawas has been caught in the camera trap of the Cambodian Wildlife Rescue Center (NGO Wildlife Alliance). The organization is planning to survey the number of storks of Thaumatibis giganteawas throughout Kampong Som.

The first Thaumatibis giganteawas were recorded in the province
Koh Kong (Cambodia) since 1918 (Photo: Wildlife Alliance / Mongabay.com)

Hunting, deforestation and dryness of wetlands have for a long time been a serious threat to the survival of large populations of Thaumatibis giganteawas. In addition, this is a species that is particularly sensitive to human presence, so the human factor and their activities may also cause the number of this species to be narrowed.