23 thoughts on “Lesser Adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus)”
When it was listed as Vulnerable, is has a large population in Assam – then India’s stronghold for the species. It is always found in small numbers or occasional in other states of NE India. It should have been NT. Now when it’s numbers are declining it is proposed to be downgraded!
A sample of two high occurrence districts were surveyed by me in 1990-95 (Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts of Assam) and again in 2011-13. I found at least one-third nesting trees missing. Now it must be more. Similarly, the nesting trees in Majuli, and along highways all over Assam were also lost. Cut by people or cut during road widening.
There is apparent decline if compared to 1980-90s.
Hence, I suggest status quo.
Lesser Adjutant Stork is still present in many areas of coastal and to a lesser extent in inland areas of Myanmar. However, many of these areas were only surveyed in recent years. We don’t know what the situation has been before. There are however a few areas that have been surveyed 20 + years ago. One of these areas is the Upper Ayeyarwady River near Myitkyina that Davies et al. 2004 surveyed 20 years ago. They encountered several storks along the first stretch down from Myitkyina. In three years between 2017-2019 I only had one sighting in 2019!
Another more striking example is from the Taninthay region in the south. In 2011 a day of surveying the Dawei (Tavoy) River delta region and encountered 6 LAT. In 2020 also in late winter along the same route none were present and many areas were destroyed or converted. Many other areas that I surveyed in 2008, 2009 and 2010 in Rakhine are no longer accessible but also not protected. Lake Loktak in Manipur, India used to host regularly LAT, but no longer, The last two birds were still observed in winter 2022 but no longer last winter.
The species continues to decline sharply in Myanmar and Manipur. I agree with Anwaruddin. Should we not considered this state of affairs as at least ‘Vulnerable’ for the species?
I fully support Dr. Choudhury’s perspective, as my own experience working in the Brahmaputra grasslands since 2016 aligns with his observations. The visible nesting sites along the Guwahati-Tinsukhia highway have noticeably decreased due to road expansion, and the nesting sites in Jorhat district and Majuli have also declined. Therefore, it is justified to classify the species in the VU (Vulnerable) category considering these factors.
Since 2018, I have been studying Farmland birds of Nepal, including the Lesser Adjutants. In Lesser Adjutants, I studied their distribution, breeding ecology, and the threats they face. Throughout this period, I have published two papers on the subject, which can be found at the following links: (https://ace-eco.org/vol17/iss2/art15/) and (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716623000312). The main findings from these papers indicate that Lesser Adjutants have a distribution spanning from east to west Nepal (very few from Dang to Kailali districts of mid and far-western region, see the 2nd paper), with a higher concentration in farmland habitats compared to other types of habitats.
In 2020, I conducted a nation-wide survey in Nepal, documenting the distribution of Lesser Adjutants in 24 districts. I also recorded a total of 109 nesting colonies across 18 districts. It is important to note that these higher population and nesting metrics are primarily a result of extensive exploration, rather than an actual increase in population size.
However, there are numerous challenges that the Lesser Adjutants face in the lowland regions of Nepal. One significant issue is the scarcity of suitable large-sized nesting trees, which are often subjected to frequent felling in all the sites, posing a significant threat to the species. Additionally, the excessive use of agrochemicals, wetlands drying, rapid urbanization along the farmlands and hunting practices in certain eastern areas also contribute to the species’ vulnerability. It is important to note that all these threats are on the rise in Nepal due to various ongoing developmental projects, ultimately posing significant risks to the survival of the Lesser Adjutants.
Considering all of these factors, at this time, I suggest maintaining the current classification of Lesser Adjutants as Vulnerable. To ensure their conservation, it is essential to focus on protecting their habitats, large-sized for example, Bombax ceiba tree and educating farmers, as negative attitudes towards these birds exist among some individuals in the farming community. It is too early to downgrade their conservation status to Near-Threatened without conducting comprehensive studies. Moreover, given the limited research conducted on the North Indian side bordering Nepal and south India, any downgrade in status would likely result in reduced prioritization, ultimately impacting conservation efforts not only for Lesser Adjutants but also for other stork species that share their range.
Having worked in Nepal for some years on this species, some perspectives are provided here beyond the published work.
Work with colleagues and students in central Nepal have thrown up a few things regarding Lesser Adjutant ecology and its implications on estimating population sizes.
Our surveys were carried out throughout the year. This is starkly different from all of the other existing surveys that were able to do either a one-time survey, or repeated once more. We found that one-time surveys greatly underestimates breeding populations since new colonies are built through the breeding season. The breeding season varies slightly year to year, but in general, nests are initiated July – November. These surveys therefore revealed the largest known breeding populations of Lesser Adjutants. The breeding success of these storks in the decade of monitoring was healthy, indicating that central Nepal has an increasing population. Not surveying throughout the breeding season usually results in missing an unknown number of nests, and numbers from such surveys should be considered underestimates.
The work also helps to move away from existing assumptions that agriculture is uniformly bad for this species. All of the surveyed colonies we documented (which are partly presented in Hem’s recent paper, and partly in papers with other students) were on trees located in agriculture fields.
Our multi-year work (as yet unpublished for this particular aspect) showed that around 70% of colonies are in new locations each year. This is perhaps a behavioural response to the commercial use of the main nesting tree species – Bombax ceiba. Our careful evaluation of available trees shows that there is plenty of Bombax due to staggered planting of these trees by farmers. We are not seeing a limitation of nesting trees by any of the standard metrics. Older trees such as the Ficus species are also preferred for nesting, but are exceedingly rare now on the landscape.
The habit of moving colonies gives the impression that cutting of trees commercially is a threat since a colony being observed in one year did not have a tree to nest on the next year. However, the commerce of using Bombax has provided extensive nest tree availability across landscape scales for Lesser Adjutants, and other bird species.
For some reason, conservation of species is thought to be “safe” only inside protected areas. This is despite the deterioration of a number of protected reserved! However, vast numbers of nesting storks use the unprotected croplands in South Asia, and several species are increasing in number. It would be useful to develop sound information (like Hem did, and others did) and see it for what it is – croplands in lowland Nepal are super habitats for Lesser Adjutant storks. A huge area of south Asian croplands is uncovered yet by surveys, and modeling results suggest that there are far more storks than have been discovered so far.
I understand the urge to keep species in a higher category of threat so as to avail of the much required funding. Unfortunately, despite the widespread knowledge that the IUCN Red List is abused and is leading to skewed conservation work, this is likely to continue, even increase. However, available information for Lesser Adjutant is indicating that it is a species that is doing much better than what was assumed (incorrectly) a few years ago.
There is similar information emerging from Sri Lanka for Lesser Adjutants which augurs well for this species.
Notwithstanding the unfortunate declines of both habitat and populations in some areas as indicated above, I would support the down listing of this species. It is possible that floodplain grasslands that are being cultivated (along with tree planting) become useful stork habitat in the future, as is being observed in some areas. However, along with the lowered status assessment, I would strongly suggest indicating that the quality of information towards this Red List status is of medium to low quality (despite the huge amount of new information my colleagues and I have added to literature). This honesty is critical to ensure that scientists in countries with this species are able to access the much needed support to expand on the work that has been completed so far.
The population of Lesser Adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus) in east coastal zone of Sumatra still in good number. However, I think it s better to keep this species in Vulnerable.
The satus of lesser adjutant stork is declining in my area. I used to see many in my village area. But they ar gone. There used to be dozens of nesting trees in my place.now only 2/3 are left. They ar gone.very few in numbers at my place.
The Lesser Adjutant is an understudied species in South Asia, with the majority of available information coming from Nepal. I have been working closely with Hem for a long time, monitoring the species in various parts of lowland Nepal. Although, our recent paper explored several nesting sites in this region, we also found numerous threats and a population is not increasing as expected. In particular, the developmental activities in agricultural landscapes, wetland pollution, and the felling of large-sized trees like Bombax ceiba throughout lowland Nepal pose significant challenges. The landscapes in Central Nepal, where Gopi conducted research for a few years, as well as other areas, present distinct differences. Our multi-year monitoring of colonies in Central and Eastern Nepal has shown that the birds are changing their locations and fewer colonies are being observed compared to previous monitoring.
Although it is true that farmers are commercially planting Bombax, this trend has decreased. Instead, Euclaputus is more widely spread and planted in most areas of Central and Eastern Nepal. However, the majority of available Bombax trees are smaller in size, making them less suitable for nesting. Furthermore, we have observed negative attitudes from some people towards nesting colonies located in agricultural landscapes in Eastern Nepal. Additionally, a small amount of hunting still persists in that area.
Considering all of this evidence, I believe that a more in-depth study of South Asia is necessary. It is important not to solely rely on predictions based on the most suitable habitat across South Asia, as this approach may introduce bias. Therefore, I suggest maintaining the species’ classification as Vulnerable and conducting a detailed study of its status across South Asia before making decision on its downgrading.
The population of Lesser Adjutant Stork is small and according to me has declined over the last 20 years in Odisha. Habitat loss and human persecution are the major reasons. I agree with the suggestion of Mr Choudhury to keep the status as Vulnerable
In Jharkhand state of India the population of Lesser Adjutant is increased from 2012 to 2023 and estimated number of this bird crossed 400. But at global label it’s number is declining. So, vulnerable status should be maintained.
The species is long-lived and highly visible, and I think population estimates based on observations of adults without evidence of breeding should be viewed with caution. Although breeding (at least currently in Cambodia) appears to be less colonial than Greater Adjutant, it still makes large visible nests. I am suspicious increased observer awareness and effort in many of the more remote areas of SE Asia over the last decade has led to recording of increased numbers of (potentially non-breeding and aging) adults, but not a similar increase in evidence of breeding?
The second iteration of State of India’s Birds (SoIB) is nearing its completion and we have some information about Lesser Adjutant.
Long-term trend (pre-2000 to 2022)
Change of -22 to -52% (95% CI, mean -39%). Its long-term trend does not meet the criterion for a decline (>25% decline) and the CI is high, resulting in its long-term trend being classified as ‘inconclusive’.
Current annual trend (2015 to 2022)
Annual change of -1.5 to -5.4% (95% CI, mean -3.5%), meeting the criterion for its current trend to be classified as ‘decline’, but not as “rapid decline”.
In summary, Lesser Adjutant in India has an ‘inconclusive’ status in the long-term, but is in current ‘decline’.
We did not specifically analyze threats for this species. Do note that these numbers may change slightly when the analysis/report is finalized.
I have been doing research on Lesser Adjutant since 2017 and have been making observation on nesting colonies of the species in central and eastern lowland Nepal. Based on my observation, the nesting colony in Bombax ceiba with 12 active nests in 2018 (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343182133_Confirmation_of_breeding_colonies_of_Lesser_Adjutant_Stork_in_Sarlahi) was uprooted by strong wind in 2019 (Photographic proof can be provided if required) and the population has been dispersed.
After the incident, I visited the area and found the nests were re-constructed on other tree, but they were found to construct just 1-2 nest on a single tree unlike to my findings in above research paper. Later, my visit to eastern Nepal in 2020-2022 including Sunsari, Morang and Udayapur districts, only a single colony of LA was found on a same tree throughout the year and on other locations, the nesting trees were switched to new one thereby making us researcher feel as if there has been remarkable increment on the nesting colonies of the LA with addition of LA population. Moreover, I have found incidents of the species being hunted with photographic record for meat and medicinal purpose threatening the survival of the species.
On this note, it will not be wise enough to reach a conclusion to downgrade the species conservation status. Moreover, based on the findings that the overall status of the Bombax ceiba has been rapidly declining due to illegal harvesting and country has no enough second generation of the Bombax ceiba to support the species survival in near future, Department of Forest and Soil Conservation under Ministry of Forest and Environment has been developing the Bombax ceiba conservation plan (which is under publication). In addition to this, the expansion of the East-West Highway (1,028 km) has already begun to upgrade the existing 2 lane roads into 4 lanes (https://thehimalayantimes.com/business/expansion-of-east-west-highway-into-four-lane-expressway-planned) which will cause loss of the existing Bombax ceiba and other nesting trees preferred by LA and other large birds. Also, the construction of the mega projects like Nijgadh Airport ( suitable habitat for LA) will result to cut down 2.4m trees (https://kathmandupost.com/money/2017/07/25/24m-trees-need-to-be-cut-down-for-nijgadh-airport) which will result catastrophic loss of biodiversity in the area.
To this note, I would like to strongly propose that without prior proper scientific study whether the population has really climbed up or not, the conservation status of the LA to be kept as Vulnerable.
Lesser Adjutants are mostly confined to Sundarbans in the southwest and few breeding patches in the north-eastern districts in Bangladesh. The breeding population faces challenges of nesting tree felling every year in the northeast and egg predation by the crows. The Sundarbans population is probably still steady but there is an emerging threat of increased poison fishing. I agree with the suggestion of Mr. A. Choudhury and others to keep the status as Vulnerable.
Population and distribution records of LA is increasing from lowlands of Nepal due to expansion of their studies but the anthropogenic threats are also rising up . Many of the nesting tress observed during 2015-2017 were no more standing over there and have been replaced by modern houses. Many other threats are still existing throughout their range. Therefore, i suggest not to downgrade their redlist status without implementing proper conservation management plan and threats mitigation strategies.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 26 June 2023. We will now analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 26 June 2023, when discussions will re-open.
Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2023 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classifications outlined in the initial forum discussion. We thank all those who have contributed valuable information, all of which has been incorporated into the updated Red List assessment. In particular, the concern raised from South-East Asia and locally parts of India have been included. However, as with many wetland species, the current scenarios in South Asia and South-East Asia are different. Because this assessment is of global extinction risk, stability in the South Asian population greatly reduces overall extinction risk, and the current global rate of decline is considered very unlikely to meet the thresholds for threatened. To capture finer scale changes, we encourage national Red List assessments.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 2 July 2023, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2023 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in December 2023, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Until now, I have not come across any papers indicating a stable and large population of the Lesser Adjutant in South Asia. On the contrary, several papers have highlighted the increasing threats, decline population and over 90% of individuals in the group have reported a decline in their respective areas. Therefore, it appears futile to continue the discussion on this matter.
Hope it’s not late to comment–what we say is reflecting largely what Nepali researchers have been saying:
“Recent extensive species focused research, mainly by Dr Hem Bahadur Katuwal (who already commented in this forum) has resulted in the location of new Lesser Adjutant breeding colonies, widely distributed in the central and western lowlands. However, almost all of these lie outside the country’s protected areas’ network, in unprotected farmlands where they face a number of significant threats. A major threat is felling of their nesting trees. By far the largest colony within the protected areas’ network likes in Chitwan National Park. However, the birds feed in farmlands in the park’s buffer zone where they are threatened by pesticides and hunting. To the best of our knowledge there is no indication of a slow-down in the decline of Lesser Adjutant in Nepal. Available farmland habitats continue to shrink giving way to developments like housing and other infrastructures. Considering rapidly growing human population in this region it is likely more of the suitable habitat will be lost in the future for this largest farmland species surviving in one of the densest human populations in the world. We firmly believe that the global threat status of this species should remain as Vulnerable and not be downlisted. Thank you.”
-Carol Inskipp, Himalayan Nature and Hem Sagar Baral, Zoological Society of London Nepal Office
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the information, and we will post a final decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 10 July 2023.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Lesser Adjutant is recommended to be listed as Near Threatened, approaching the threshold for listing as threatened under Criteria A2cd+4cd.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2023.2 GTB Forum process. The final 2023 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in December 2023, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
When it was listed as Vulnerable, is has a large population in Assam – then India’s stronghold for the species. It is always found in small numbers or occasional in other states of NE India. It should have been NT. Now when it’s numbers are declining it is proposed to be downgraded!
A sample of two high occurrence districts were surveyed by me in 1990-95 (Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts of Assam) and again in 2011-13. I found at least one-third nesting trees missing. Now it must be more. Similarly, the nesting trees in Majuli, and along highways all over Assam were also lost. Cut by people or cut during road widening.
There is apparent decline if compared to 1980-90s.
Hence, I suggest status quo.
Lesser Adjutant Stork is still present in many areas of coastal and to a lesser extent in inland areas of Myanmar. However, many of these areas were only surveyed in recent years. We don’t know what the situation has been before. There are however a few areas that have been surveyed 20 + years ago. One of these areas is the Upper Ayeyarwady River near Myitkyina that Davies et al. 2004 surveyed 20 years ago. They encountered several storks along the first stretch down from Myitkyina. In three years between 2017-2019 I only had one sighting in 2019!
Another more striking example is from the Taninthay region in the south. In 2011 a day of surveying the Dawei (Tavoy) River delta region and encountered 6 LAT. In 2020 also in late winter along the same route none were present and many areas were destroyed or converted. Many other areas that I surveyed in 2008, 2009 and 2010 in Rakhine are no longer accessible but also not protected. Lake Loktak in Manipur, India used to host regularly LAT, but no longer, The last two birds were still observed in winter 2022 but no longer last winter.
The species continues to decline sharply in Myanmar and Manipur. I agree with Anwaruddin. Should we not considered this state of affairs as at least ‘Vulnerable’ for the species?
Sorry should be Taninthary and LAS not LAT!
I fully support Dr. Choudhury’s perspective, as my own experience working in the Brahmaputra grasslands since 2016 aligns with his observations. The visible nesting sites along the Guwahati-Tinsukhia highway have noticeably decreased due to road expansion, and the nesting sites in Jorhat district and Majuli have also declined. Therefore, it is justified to classify the species in the VU (Vulnerable) category considering these factors.
Since 2018, I have been studying Farmland birds of Nepal, including the Lesser Adjutants. In Lesser Adjutants, I studied their distribution, breeding ecology, and the threats they face. Throughout this period, I have published two papers on the subject, which can be found at the following links: (https://ace-eco.org/vol17/iss2/art15/) and (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716623000312). The main findings from these papers indicate that Lesser Adjutants have a distribution spanning from east to west Nepal (very few from Dang to Kailali districts of mid and far-western region, see the 2nd paper), with a higher concentration in farmland habitats compared to other types of habitats.
In 2020, I conducted a nation-wide survey in Nepal, documenting the distribution of Lesser Adjutants in 24 districts. I also recorded a total of 109 nesting colonies across 18 districts. It is important to note that these higher population and nesting metrics are primarily a result of extensive exploration, rather than an actual increase in population size.
However, there are numerous challenges that the Lesser Adjutants face in the lowland regions of Nepal. One significant issue is the scarcity of suitable large-sized nesting trees, which are often subjected to frequent felling in all the sites, posing a significant threat to the species. Additionally, the excessive use of agrochemicals, wetlands drying, rapid urbanization along the farmlands and hunting practices in certain eastern areas also contribute to the species’ vulnerability. It is important to note that all these threats are on the rise in Nepal due to various ongoing developmental projects, ultimately posing significant risks to the survival of the Lesser Adjutants.
Considering all of these factors, at this time, I suggest maintaining the current classification of Lesser Adjutants as Vulnerable. To ensure their conservation, it is essential to focus on protecting their habitats, large-sized for example, Bombax ceiba tree and educating farmers, as negative attitudes towards these birds exist among some individuals in the farming community. It is too early to downgrade their conservation status to Near-Threatened without conducting comprehensive studies. Moreover, given the limited research conducted on the North Indian side bordering Nepal and south India, any downgrade in status would likely result in reduced prioritization, ultimately impacting conservation efforts not only for Lesser Adjutants but also for other stork species that share their range.
Having worked in Nepal for some years on this species, some perspectives are provided here beyond the published work.
Work with colleagues and students in central Nepal have thrown up a few things regarding Lesser Adjutant ecology and its implications on estimating population sizes.
Our surveys were carried out throughout the year. This is starkly different from all of the other existing surveys that were able to do either a one-time survey, or repeated once more. We found that one-time surveys greatly underestimates breeding populations since new colonies are built through the breeding season. The breeding season varies slightly year to year, but in general, nests are initiated July – November. These surveys therefore revealed the largest known breeding populations of Lesser Adjutants. The breeding success of these storks in the decade of monitoring was healthy, indicating that central Nepal has an increasing population. Not surveying throughout the breeding season usually results in missing an unknown number of nests, and numbers from such surveys should be considered underestimates.
The work also helps to move away from existing assumptions that agriculture is uniformly bad for this species. All of the surveyed colonies we documented (which are partly presented in Hem’s recent paper, and partly in papers with other students) were on trees located in agriculture fields.
Our multi-year work (as yet unpublished for this particular aspect) showed that around 70% of colonies are in new locations each year. This is perhaps a behavioural response to the commercial use of the main nesting tree species – Bombax ceiba. Our careful evaluation of available trees shows that there is plenty of Bombax due to staggered planting of these trees by farmers. We are not seeing a limitation of nesting trees by any of the standard metrics. Older trees such as the Ficus species are also preferred for nesting, but are exceedingly rare now on the landscape.
The habit of moving colonies gives the impression that cutting of trees commercially is a threat since a colony being observed in one year did not have a tree to nest on the next year. However, the commerce of using Bombax has provided extensive nest tree availability across landscape scales for Lesser Adjutants, and other bird species.
For some reason, conservation of species is thought to be “safe” only inside protected areas. This is despite the deterioration of a number of protected reserved! However, vast numbers of nesting storks use the unprotected croplands in South Asia, and several species are increasing in number. It would be useful to develop sound information (like Hem did, and others did) and see it for what it is – croplands in lowland Nepal are super habitats for Lesser Adjutant storks. A huge area of south Asian croplands is uncovered yet by surveys, and modeling results suggest that there are far more storks than have been discovered so far.
I understand the urge to keep species in a higher category of threat so as to avail of the much required funding. Unfortunately, despite the widespread knowledge that the IUCN Red List is abused and is leading to skewed conservation work, this is likely to continue, even increase. However, available information for Lesser Adjutant is indicating that it is a species that is doing much better than what was assumed (incorrectly) a few years ago.
There is similar information emerging from Sri Lanka for Lesser Adjutants which augurs well for this species.
Notwithstanding the unfortunate declines of both habitat and populations in some areas as indicated above, I would support the down listing of this species. It is possible that floodplain grasslands that are being cultivated (along with tree planting) become useful stork habitat in the future, as is being observed in some areas. However, along with the lowered status assessment, I would strongly suggest indicating that the quality of information towards this Red List status is of medium to low quality (despite the huge amount of new information my colleagues and I have added to literature). This honesty is critical to ensure that scientists in countries with this species are able to access the much needed support to expand on the work that has been completed so far.
The population of Lesser Adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus) in east coastal zone of Sumatra still in good number. However, I think it s better to keep this species in Vulnerable.
The satus of lesser adjutant stork is declining in my area. I used to see many in my village area. But they ar gone. There used to be dozens of nesting trees in my place.now only 2/3 are left. They ar gone.very few in numbers at my place.
The Lesser Adjutant is an understudied species in South Asia, with the majority of available information coming from Nepal. I have been working closely with Hem for a long time, monitoring the species in various parts of lowland Nepal. Although, our recent paper explored several nesting sites in this region, we also found numerous threats and a population is not increasing as expected. In particular, the developmental activities in agricultural landscapes, wetland pollution, and the felling of large-sized trees like Bombax ceiba throughout lowland Nepal pose significant challenges. The landscapes in Central Nepal, where Gopi conducted research for a few years, as well as other areas, present distinct differences. Our multi-year monitoring of colonies in Central and Eastern Nepal has shown that the birds are changing their locations and fewer colonies are being observed compared to previous monitoring.
Although it is true that farmers are commercially planting Bombax, this trend has decreased. Instead, Euclaputus is more widely spread and planted in most areas of Central and Eastern Nepal. However, the majority of available Bombax trees are smaller in size, making them less suitable for nesting. Furthermore, we have observed negative attitudes from some people towards nesting colonies located in agricultural landscapes in Eastern Nepal. Additionally, a small amount of hunting still persists in that area.
Considering all of this evidence, I believe that a more in-depth study of South Asia is necessary. It is important not to solely rely on predictions based on the most suitable habitat across South Asia, as this approach may introduce bias. Therefore, I suggest maintaining the species’ classification as Vulnerable and conducting a detailed study of its status across South Asia before making decision on its downgrading.
Although, there are several anthropogenic threats but Lesser Adjutant may coping somehow then widely distributed all over the plain areas of Nepal yet. Still recording the new nesting sites in the country (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346419463_First_distributional_record_of_the_Lesser_Adjutant_Leptoptilos_javanicus_Horsfield_1821_Ciconiiformes_Ciconiidae_from_Sindhuli_District_Nepal, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351022807_First_Nesting_Record_of_Lesser_Adjutant_from_Rautahat_district_Nepal, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343182133_Confirmation_of_breeding_colonies_of_Lesser_Adjutant_Stork_in_Sarlahi ) and encounter the notable numbers. I think, this is right time to re-evaluate its status and make a realistic decision.
The population of Lesser Adjutant Stork is small and according to me has declined over the last 20 years in Odisha. Habitat loss and human persecution are the major reasons. I agree with the suggestion of Mr Choudhury to keep the status as Vulnerable
In Jharkhand state of India the population of Lesser Adjutant is increased from 2012 to 2023 and estimated number of this bird crossed 400. But at global label it’s number is declining. So, vulnerable status should be maintained.
The species is long-lived and highly visible, and I think population estimates based on observations of adults without evidence of breeding should be viewed with caution. Although breeding (at least currently in Cambodia) appears to be less colonial than Greater Adjutant, it still makes large visible nests. I am suspicious increased observer awareness and effort in many of the more remote areas of SE Asia over the last decade has led to recording of increased numbers of (potentially non-breeding and aging) adults, but not a similar increase in evidence of breeding?
The second iteration of State of India’s Birds (SoIB) is nearing its completion and we have some information about Lesser Adjutant.
Long-term trend (pre-2000 to 2022)
Change of -22 to -52% (95% CI, mean -39%). Its long-term trend does not meet the criterion for a decline (>25% decline) and the CI is high, resulting in its long-term trend being classified as ‘inconclusive’.
Current annual trend (2015 to 2022)
Annual change of -1.5 to -5.4% (95% CI, mean -3.5%), meeting the criterion for its current trend to be classified as ‘decline’, but not as “rapid decline”.
In summary, Lesser Adjutant in India has an ‘inconclusive’ status in the long-term, but is in current ‘decline’.
We did not specifically analyze threats for this species. Do note that these numbers may change slightly when the analysis/report is finalized.
I have been doing research on Lesser Adjutant since 2017 and have been making observation on nesting colonies of the species in central and eastern lowland Nepal. Based on my observation, the nesting colony in Bombax ceiba with 12 active nests in 2018 (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343182133_Confirmation_of_breeding_colonies_of_Lesser_Adjutant_Stork_in_Sarlahi) was uprooted by strong wind in 2019 (Photographic proof can be provided if required) and the population has been dispersed.
After the incident, I visited the area and found the nests were re-constructed on other tree, but they were found to construct just 1-2 nest on a single tree unlike to my findings in above research paper. Later, my visit to eastern Nepal in 2020-2022 including Sunsari, Morang and Udayapur districts, only a single colony of LA was found on a same tree throughout the year and on other locations, the nesting trees were switched to new one thereby making us researcher feel as if there has been remarkable increment on the nesting colonies of the LA with addition of LA population. Moreover, I have found incidents of the species being hunted with photographic record for meat and medicinal purpose threatening the survival of the species.
On this note, it will not be wise enough to reach a conclusion to downgrade the species conservation status. Moreover, based on the findings that the overall status of the Bombax ceiba has been rapidly declining due to illegal harvesting and country has no enough second generation of the Bombax ceiba to support the species survival in near future, Department of Forest and Soil Conservation under Ministry of Forest and Environment has been developing the Bombax ceiba conservation plan (which is under publication). In addition to this, the expansion of the East-West Highway (1,028 km) has already begun to upgrade the existing 2 lane roads into 4 lanes (https://thehimalayantimes.com/business/expansion-of-east-west-highway-into-four-lane-expressway-planned) which will cause loss of the existing Bombax ceiba and other nesting trees preferred by LA and other large birds. Also, the construction of the mega projects like Nijgadh Airport ( suitable habitat for LA) will result to cut down 2.4m trees (https://kathmandupost.com/money/2017/07/25/24m-trees-need-to-be-cut-down-for-nijgadh-airport) which will result catastrophic loss of biodiversity in the area.
To this note, I would like to strongly propose that without prior proper scientific study whether the population has really climbed up or not, the conservation status of the LA to be kept as Vulnerable.
Lesser Adjutants are mostly confined to Sundarbans in the southwest and few breeding patches in the north-eastern districts in Bangladesh. The breeding population faces challenges of nesting tree felling every year in the northeast and egg predation by the crows. The Sundarbans population is probably still steady but there is an emerging threat of increased poison fishing. I agree with the suggestion of Mr. A. Choudhury and others to keep the status as Vulnerable.
Population and distribution records of LA is increasing from lowlands of Nepal due to expansion of their studies but the anthropogenic threats are also rising up . Many of the nesting tress observed during 2015-2017 were no more standing over there and have been replaced by modern houses. Many other threats are still existing throughout their range. Therefore, i suggest not to downgrade their redlist status without implementing proper conservation management plan and threats mitigation strategies.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments until 26 June 2023. We will now analyse and interpret the new information, and we will post a preliminary decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 26 June 2023, when discussions will re-open.
Preliminary proposal
Based on available information, our preliminary proposal for the 2023 Red List would be to adopt the proposed classifications outlined in the initial forum discussion. We thank all those who have contributed valuable information, all of which has been incorporated into the updated Red List assessment. In particular, the concern raised from South-East Asia and locally parts of India have been included. However, as with many wetland species, the current scenarios in South Asia and South-East Asia are different. Because this assessment is of global extinction risk, stability in the South Asian population greatly reduces overall extinction risk, and the current global rate of decline is considered very unlikely to meet the thresholds for threatened. To capture finer scale changes, we encourage national Red List assessments.
There is now a period for further comments until the final deadline on 2 July 2023, after which the recommended categorisations will be put forward to IUCN.
The final 2023 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in December 2023, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.
Until now, I have not come across any papers indicating a stable and large population of the Lesser Adjutant in South Asia. On the contrary, several papers have highlighted the increasing threats, decline population and over 90% of individuals in the group have reported a decline in their respective areas. Therefore, it appears futile to continue the discussion on this matter.
Hope it’s not late to comment–what we say is reflecting largely what Nepali researchers have been saying:
“Recent extensive species focused research, mainly by Dr Hem Bahadur Katuwal (who already commented in this forum) has resulted in the location of new Lesser Adjutant breeding colonies, widely distributed in the central and western lowlands. However, almost all of these lie outside the country’s protected areas’ network, in unprotected farmlands where they face a number of significant threats. A major threat is felling of their nesting trees. By far the largest colony within the protected areas’ network likes in Chitwan National Park. However, the birds feed in farmlands in the park’s buffer zone where they are threatened by pesticides and hunting. To the best of our knowledge there is no indication of a slow-down in the decline of Lesser Adjutant in Nepal. Available farmland habitats continue to shrink giving way to developments like housing and other infrastructures. Considering rapidly growing human population in this region it is likely more of the suitable habitat will be lost in the future for this largest farmland species surviving in one of the densest human populations in the world. We firmly believe that the global threat status of this species should remain as Vulnerable and not be downlisted. Thank you.”
-Carol Inskipp, Himalayan Nature and Hem Sagar Baral, Zoological Society of London Nepal Office
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion. We greatly appreciate the time and effort invested in commenting. The window for consultation is now closed and we are unable to accept any more comments. We will analyse and interpret the information, and we will post a final decision on this species’ Red List status on this page on 10 July 2023.
Recommended categorisation to be put forward to IUCN
The final categorisation for this species has not changed. Lesser Adjutant is recommended to be listed as Near Threatened, approaching the threshold for listing as threatened under Criteria A2cd+4cd.
Many thanks for everyone who contributed to the 2023.2 GTB Forum process. The final 2023 Red List categories will be published on the BirdLife and IUCN websites in December 2023, following further checking of information relevant to the assessments by both BirdLife and IUCN.