Title
The Lesser Adjutant Stork, Leptoptilos javanicus, its Husbandry and Conservation at the Wildlife Conservation Society
Author(s)
Pokorny, L.;Samaroo, C.;Sheppard, C.;Mahood, S. ;Hook, N.;Raphael, B.;Oehler, D.A.
Published
2016
Publisher
Avicultural Magazine
Abstract
Here we outline the captive husbandry of the Lesser Adjutant Stork (Leptoptilos javanicus), the insitu conservation efforts and the interconnection between these elements within the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The development of protocols is required to maintain and propagate these storks ex-situ and to protect the breeding colonies within WCS landscapes in Cambodia. Within the United States, the captive propagation of stork taxa require specialized parameters, which are challenging to provide and often lead to low fecundity. Concentrated resource, such as optimal space, cold weather holding, proper nutrition and management of pairs allowed WCS to successfully propagate this species for the first time in North America. A stork propagation center, at WCS, was developed to provide straightforward year-round management of the Lesser Adjutant Stork with substantial outdoor flights, for individual pairs, and adjacent holding facilities. Declining Lesser Adjutant Stork populations in Southeast Asia demand innovative community-based approaches. WCS recruited local community members that, in the past, had exploited local bird colonies for eggs and chicks to become nest guardians, resulting in an increase of 158 Lesser Adjutant Storks in 2004 to 315 in 2013, at Prek Toal, Cambodia. Stationing these nest guardians on tree-top platforms and at the mouth of important waterways has proven to be successful in building the population of the storks, but also other waterbirds, such as the Oriental Darter (Anhinga melanogaster). The development of the in-situ and ex-situ programs allows WCS to garner support to safeguard the birds in the wild and to utilize those data from the captive propagation to aid those monitoring efforts.
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PUB19035