Rare ibis tagged in race to save bird of pharaohs

LONDON (Reuters) – Scientists have tagged three northern
bald ibis, among the last survivors of a species of Middle
Eastern bird once so revered that it had its own ancient
Egyptian hieroglyph, in an effort to save them from extinction.

Only 13 of the birds remain in Syria, Britain’s Royal
Society for the Protection of Birds and the conservation agency
BirdLife International said in a news release.

The birds, with their distinctive black Mohican-style
plumage and long, downward-curved red bills, were once revered
by pharaohs and were found throughout the Middle East, northern
Africa and the European Alps.

They are now classified as critically endangered, the
highest level of threat, by the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Until four years ago the species was thought to be extinct
in Syria. The only other wild population is in Morocco.

“Without this tracking project, the bird would have been
consigned to history and hieroglyphics,” Ibrahim Khader, head
of BirdLife Middle East, said in the statement.

“We knew they were in Palmyra because of reports from
Bedouin nomads and local hunters.”

Scientists from BirdLife and the RSPB tagged the three
ibis, named Zenobia, Sultan and Salam, in southeast Syria’s
Palmyra region, hoping to track them when they begin their
annual migration this month to discover where they breed.

“Tracking the birds and finding their wintering sites may
be the last chance to save them,” RSPB scientist Ken Smith
said. “We won’t be able to help them until we know where they
go and the threats and pressures they are facing.”