It is not uncommon to have gift-bearing guests come a visiting. Only in this case, it was a cause for alarm as the person was carrying the dead body of the highly endangered White-Bellied Heron (Ardea insignis Hume, A. imperialis).

The Divisional Forest Officer of Thimphu was immediately informed and the dead bird duly handed over. Investigations so far have revealed that the White-Bellied Heron was a juvenile. The body was found at around 6.30 am on August 23 near Basochu. Environmentalists have expressed shock as the total number of White-Bellied Herons in Bhutan is now reduced to only 31.

The dead heron was 1.58 meters tall, weighing 8.51 kg; it is with the Taxidermy unit in Taba under the MoA. “The dead White-Bellied Heron was found near an electric pole beside the road about a km from Basochhu by Hotelier Sonam Phuntsho,” said DFO Phento Tshering of Wangdue.

He said the Heron may have been electrocuted since there were burn marks on the palm and ankle. “I am trying to find the cause of its death. Physically it looks like it was killed by electric burns seeing the marks on the palm and ankle but I really don’t know how it was killed as the information has not yet arrived,” said Rebecca Pradhan, Ecologist of the RSPN.

“I am very sad as the population is very small. From my own observation, the dead heron might be the juvenile that we found near Basochhu last year,” she said. She explained that by nature, Heron’s never stood on electric wires. Had it done so, then there should have been marks on the neck. Judging from physical appearance, the Heron seemed to have been basking and relaxed at the time of death.

“Right now we didn’t meet the person who brought the dead Heron since he was out of station. After he comes back, we will be visiting the spot to ascertain how the Heron died,” she said.

The age and the sex of the dead Heron will be known after few days when RSPN takes the specimen from the Taxidermy laboratory in Taba. Rebecca Pradhan said that Punatshang Chhhu is a very important habitat for the White-Bellied Heron as in Bhutan the highest number of Herons reside there, feeding entirely on fish. The Heron lays about one to four eggs a year.

“We are looking for some kind of mitigation or a conservation strategy on how we are going to save this bird as it is a critically endangered species in the world,” she said.

The White-Bellied Heron is one of the 50 rarest birds in the world, considered endangered in the Birdlife International Red Data Book because of its small and declining population and lack of data. Its worldwide population is estimated to be less than 200.

Its colour camouflages it in the surroundings making it difficult to spot; it is identified from its long legs for wading, with long head and neck, huge thick bill and grayish slender body. It was sighted in Bhutan as early as 1975, says RSPN. The White-Bellied Heron is included under Schedule I of the Forest and Nature Conservation Act in the country.

Source: http://www.bhutanobserver.bt