THEY are hailed in traditional lore as bearers of good news – it is the stork, after all, that “delivers” newborn bundles of joy to parents! The birds themselves, however, don’t get much joy in real life. In Malaysia, the milky stork, one of 11 Asian species of storks, is barely holding on to existence in a colony at Kuala Gula, north-west Perak. This little colony of Mycteria cinerea is the last remaining in the country. 

And it’s in trouble: the birds are simply not breeding enough to maintain a viable population so it could very well die out. 

Back in the 1930s, the large wading bird roosted all along the Selangor coast, including on Pulau Ketam, and on Johor’s tidal plains, according to Birdlife International’s compilation Threatened Birds of the World. By as early as the 1950s, human disturbance had driven off the Pulau Ketam population. In the mid-1970s, the range of the milky stork on the peninsula had been reduced to the wetland region of coastal Perak. In 1984, an aerial survey between Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi yielded sightings of 115 birds in Perak – 36 south of the Larut estuary and 79 in the Kuala Gula area. 

A survey in September last year by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (better known by its Malay acronym, Perhilitan) found only 35 individuals in the birds’ current preferred roosting area on Pulau Kelumpang, an islet in the mouth of Sungai Gula, and none anywhere else. 
 

Milky storks are barely holding on to existence in the wild.

A Perhilitan bird officer, Siti Hawa Yatim, who was involved in surveys in 1989 and 1997, notes that she saw 29 nests during the 1989 aeriel survey; in 1997, she recorded 11. That’s a significant decline in less than a decade. 

Breeding in a natural, untouched environment is difficult enough: “The eggs and the chicks are exposed to raptors, monitor lizards and civets,” explains Siti Hawa. “Although the parents guard the nests, generally, they don’t have much of a defence against these robust predators. Another problem is the loss of eggs due to poorly constructed nests. Because the birds only breed once a year and lay a clutch of only, on average, four eggs, any accidental egg-loss is critical.” 

Then there is the lack of homes. Avicennia spp, commonly known as the api-api tree, is where these birds build their nests. And these trees seem to be decreasing in number; in the absence of proper data, Siti Hawa could not ascertain exactly how many of these mangrove trees were being lost but she notes that “there aren’t many suitable sites for nesting”. 

Add to these natural obstacles human interference and it’s no wonder these birds are dying out. 

Although the area is not accessible to tourists, locals can venture into the wetland in just a simple sampan, which they often do to collect cockles and molluscs. “The mere presence of humans would scare off these shy birds. That is one reason why they are not flourishing,” says Siti Hawa. 

Then there is the construction of roads leading to the sanctuary – in the service of “ecotourism” and the development of Matang Reserve as a recreational forest, it seems. This, obviously, increases accessibility and, hence, exposes the birds to further disturbance. 

Perhaps the most deadly threat to the milky stork, though, is the pollution of the birds’ foraging grounds, which was revealed by a 1995 joint survey between the Japan Wildlife Research Centre and Perhilitan. 

Entitled Research on Conservation of Wetland Biodiversity in Tropical Asia, the study on food sources in the colony discovered that the smaller crustaceans that are the milky stork’s staple have severely declined. 

“We found that the cockle beds where the birds used to feed had experienced substantial destruction; the tiny cockles were, and are, dying. Given this scenario, it is worrying that food security of the birds has become another negative factor to their well-being,” points out Siti Hawa. 

The survey team suspected untreated discharge from palm oil mills in the hinterland that flowed into Sungai Gula but the study did not extend to tracing the source of the pollution. 

Of course, eating contaminated food can only have an adverse impact on the reproductive ability of the storks. There is ample proof that birds are particularly vulnerable to this problem: contamination from the infamously toxic pesticide DDT almost killed off the bald eagle in the United States, the very country the bird symbolises; scientists only managed to save the bird when they figured out that eating pesticide-laced food thinned the shells of the eagles’ eggs so much that fewer and fewer were hatching. That could be happening to Malaysia’s milky storks today. 

Can they be saved?

There’s gold in them birds! Especially at this time when Malaysia is desperately trying to boost its tourism industry – but only if there are any left alive to watch, of course. 

So, what are we doing to save these birds so we can show them off to the world? 

The Forestry Department assures that the area is well protected under its sustainable forest management scheme within the 40,000ha Matang Forest Reserve, which covers a 51km stretch of Perak’s north-west coastline and stretches 13km inland. The department’s deputy director-general, Shaharuddin Mohamad Ismail, says the reserve encompasses virgin jungle, research forest, educational forest, archaeological reserves, an ecotourism forest, and a bird sanctuary. The 10-year scheme had designated Kuala Gula as a bird sanctuary in the 1990 to 1999 phase as well as in the current phase which ends in 2009. Shaharuddin says the sanctuary was mooted to conserve places like Pulau Kelumpang for its importance as a feeding ground that supports not only the colony of milky storks but also the wide variety of resident and migratory water birds. 

There is, however, no conservation plan for Kuala Gula, the birds’ roosting area, says the director of Perhilitan Perak, Jasmi Abdul, though “there is regular monitoring of the (about) 300ha mangrove islands,” he adds. 

Since the milk stork’s roosting grounds are shared by other storks – like the painted, and the lesser adjutant – as well as a large variety of water birds that comprise a complex and diversified collection of coastal avian fauna, a comprehensive conservation plan would be of great benefit. 

In its authoritative 852-page Threatened Birds of the World report, Birdlife International recommends continuous research and monitoring of all key sites. And, as with any conservation work, education and awareness creation is an important tool: “The success of conservation programmes and protected areas for the species in Malaysia will depend much on actively interesting the local community. To achieve this, community awareness projects should target relevant settlements.” 

It further suggests that the level of protection at Matang Forest Reserve should be increased, along with its size. 

For the near future, though, Siti Hawa offers some ideas. 

”If need be, we may have to intervene by relocating or culling the monitor lizard and civet population. But we still have to deal with the raptors which is a more tricky task,” says the Perhilitan officer, who proposes a breeding season surveillance. 

Any mitigation measures, however, are unlikely to be implemented in the near future as there has not been any money allocated for them. A check with the development unit at Perhilitan headquarters in Kuala Lumpur reveals there is no conservation allocation for this roosting colony in the Eighth Malaysia Plan (2000-2005). 

That means funding will have to come from elsewhere, and fast, too, at the rate the colony is declining. Even the effort by the Malaysian Nature Society to introduce born-in-captivity milky storks to the wild is in need of funds. At this rate, the only milky storks we’ll soon be able to see will be in cages at the National Zoo. 
 

Dire straits everywhere