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Importance of Furugelm Island in the Sea of Japan for wetland birds: the first record of a breeding colony of the Chinese egret Egretta eulophotes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2009

Natalia M. Litvinenko  and
Yuriy V. Shibaev
Yuriy V. Shibaev
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Zoology, Institute of Biology and Soil Sciences, Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, 690022, Russia. Tel: + 4232 311180; fax: - 4232 314605; e-mail: litvinenko@mail.primorye.ru
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Abstract

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A new breeding site of the globally threatened Chinese egret Egretta eulophotes was recorded on Furugelm Island in the summer of 1998. The discovery of this colony moves the breeding limit of the species more than 600 km further to the north-east in the Sea of Japan. Thirty to forty pairs of Chinese egrets were discovered on the island, which is also home to thousands of colonial seabirds as well. The egret's colony is within the Far-Eastern Marine Reserve but some of its main foraging sites lie outside the protected area and are disturbed by both tourists and hunters. More worryingly, however, the main threat to the Chinese egret's survival is a new economic development project: the Tumen River Area Development Program. We make an urgent plea for the protection of the Chinese egrets' foraging areas within the Far-Eastern Marine Reserve and recommend that a transfrontier reserve be created to enhance the protection of this important waterbird site.

Keywords

Chinese egretendangered speciesEgretta eulophotesnew breeding sitepopulation statusSea of Japanthreats
Type
Short Communication
Information
Oryx , Volume 34 , Issue 4 , October 2000 , pp. 335 - 337
Copyright
Copyright © Fauna and Flora International 2000

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