<
https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/the-effort-to-save-syrias-northern-bald-ibis-population-failed-but-much-can-be-learned-analysis/>
"The northern bald ibis (
Geronticus eremita) is an extravagant waterbird
adapted to forage in dry, open habitats, and is included in the list of the
most genetically and evolutionarily unique creatures of the world. Five
centuries ago, it was widespread from Southern and Central Europe to Northern
Africa and the Middle East. Since then, it has undergone a steady decline
mainly due to human collection of chicks for food, direct persecution, and
habitat change, but also, it is suspected, due to the long-term changes of the
climate (namely the so-called Little Ice Age, which occurred in Europe mainly
between 1550 and 1650, and the current era’s global warming).
Following its extinction from Central and Southern Europe more than four
centuries ago, the species split into two geographically disconnected
populations, one inhabiting northwestern Africa (Algeria and Morocco) and the
other one the Middle East (Turkey and Syria), which diverged over time in
relation to their behavior outside the breeding season. The western population
is more or less resident, while the eastern one (or “oriental”) is a long-range
migrant. Unsurprisingly, having been separated for centuries, the populations
have proven to be genetically distinct, as evidenced by two independent studies
performed in 2001.
Extinct from Egypt millennia ago, the so-called oriental population still holds
important cultural symbolism in the Middle East. It is mentioned in the Old
Testament as a messenger of fertility and was sacred to the ancient Egyptians
as the symbol of the afterworld divinity, Akh. In recent history, it used to
breed between Turkey and Syria. Four very large colonies, counting hundreds of
breeding pairs, are known to have existed until not so long ago, in Birecik,
Turkey, and two sites in Syria: the Palmyra steppe, and near the town of Raqqa,
along the Euphrates River.
Up to the 1960-1980s, the bald ibis was a common sight in the open steppes and
agricultural fields of central Syria and southern Anatolia: its loud colonies
nesting on imposing cliffs were not easily missed by locals or travelers. The
ornithologist Israel Aharoni visited the colonies of the Palmyra steppe twice
on horseback during the 1910s and 1920s, recording at least two large colonies
with hundreds of pairs.
Elderly Bedouin nomads recounted that the ibis was considered a symbol of
wisdom, similar to what was believed by ancient Egyptians in regards to ibis in
general (as a taxonomic family), and that they used to collect their chicks for
food by means of perilously using ropes fixed at the top of the cliffs.
Even British captain and adventurer T.E. Lawrence described this conspicuous
bird in his book, sometimes observed as a captive within the tents of nomads,
sometimes in the wild. The large colony of Birecik was well known, thanks to
studies by German ornithologist Udo Hirsch during the 1980s. This colony nested
on cliffs beside the village of Birecik, whose inhabitants used to mark the
ibis’s arrival from migration as the official beginning of spring. They also
believed that the same birds used to guide the pilgrims towards Mecca."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
