After disappearing from Europe for more than 300 years and considered extinct, the Northern Bald Ibis is making a come-back following efforts by conservationists.
These birds with a distinctive outline were once found in three continents, were so revered in the ancient world. However, by 1990’s the ibis population had dwindled to only 59 pairs– all in Morocco – due to hunting, habitat loss, and the use of pesticides.
However, conservation efforts in Morocco have increased the population to more than 500 individuals, resulting in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species changing its status from critically endangered to endangered in 2018.
In addition, thanks to a first-of-its-kind reintroduction program, the ibises are back migrating to Europe for the first time since the 1600s, with a managed migratory population of around 270 birds.
The northern bald ibis was once found in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. But today, it occupies only a fraction of its former range.
Typically, breeding colonies reside in cliffs and rocky outcrops, as well as inside castles and ruins in urban areas.
They feed largely on insects, worms, and larvae but are frequently forced to be flexible foragers in their often-remote living locations.
The creation of the Souss-Massa national park on the west coast of Morocco in 1991 helped to protect nesting and feeding areas.
In 1994 a research program was set up to monitor the endangered species. According to the IUCN, the Moroccan population, which doesn’t seasonally migrate, is now stable.
The Middle Eastern population of the northern bald ibis was found in Turkey and Syria, and was known for its vast migration route – an odyssey of thousands of miles to and from Ethiopia, flying through Eritrea, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
But populations dwindled dramatically in the 20th century, and the colony was assumed regionally extinct when no birds returned to Syria in 2015.
Projects to reintroduce the species to the continent are underway, including one in Andalusia, Spain, which began in 2004.
Adoptive human parents hand-reared the chicks born in captivity, before they were gradually released into the wild.
According to Waldrappteam, there have been 17 migratory journeys since – in August and September of each year – and there is now a population of around 270 birds.
In 2023, they changed the migration route to end in Spain rather than Italy to due to environmental factors.
