Shoebill stork next to human4/24/2023 Furthermore, significant knowledge gaps remain about the Shoebill, including current information on numbers and trends at different sites, movements, breeding and foraging requirements, causes and extent of trade.Īmong the actions proposed in the plan include: maintaining trade bans, strengthening surveillance and raising awareness, especially with respect to fire restricting livestock from core breeding areas conducting proper EIA for oil and other developments developing management plans for Shoebill areas and promoting sustainable wetland-based community enterprises that make communities benefit from Shoebills and their habitats, notably ecotourism initiatives. Shoebills are also threatened by illegal live bird trade, with high mortality during capture, transit and captivity. Oil exploration in the Sudd (South Sudan) and agricultural developments in Gambella (Ethiopia) also have huge impacts on the species’ habitat. Its breeding success is largely impacted by anthropogenic (human impact on the environment) factors such as disturbance by livestock and people, destruction of nests and breeding areas by fire, and habitat conversion and degradation. It is resident in South Sudan, western Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, western Tanzania and northern Zambia, with records also from Central African Republic, Burundi and Kenya. The Shoebill occurs from South Sudan and Ethiopia in the north to northern Zambia in the south. As the Shoebill has clearly been in decline in several areas, it is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List. ![]() ![]() It has a fragmented distribution bound to this habitat and a low population, estimated at 5,000 – 8,000 birds. It prefers large freshwater swamps of grasses, reeds and papyrus, and thus has been fondly referred to some as “king of the marshes”. The Shoebill is a large unique waterbird confined to a rather restricted set of generally extensive freshwater swamps of eastern central tropical Africa.
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