Grey-headed Fish Eagle

in Asia-Pacific Program: Research, Student Education:

Status: Active, started in 2008

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Goals:

Conservation of the Grey-headed Fish Eagle on Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia (the largest freshwater lake in south-east Asia) through research to understand factors limiting the species abundance and productivity, and building local capacity for sustained population monitoring by training local biologists in raptor research methods.

Background:

Ranging from north-east India, down the Thai-Malay Peninsula to Indonesia, virtually nothing is known about the ecology of the Grey-headed Fish Eagle. With a conservation status of globally near-threatened, the species is reported to have suffered recent widespread decline throughout its range. The cause of the decline is unknown but anecdotal evidence suggests deforestation, pesticides and human disturbance. In 2005, a regionally-significant high-density population of at least 60 breeding pairs was discovered in the swamp forest at Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia. This population is being studied to provide an understanding of the species’ ecological requirements to inform future conservation management decisions.

Recent Results:

The Peregrine Fund supported this project conducted by raptor research biologist Ruth Tingay in Cambodia to develop capacity for research on the Grey-headed Fish Eagle, a little-known species that appears to be declining in numbers. The season of work was successfully completed, and a paper published on the “Nesting ecology of the Grey-headed Fish Eagle at Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia” in J. Raptor Research 44(3): 165-174. Grey-headed Fish Eagles may be threatened by dam construction upstream in China, which has the potential to alter drastically the flooding regime of the seasonally inundated Tonle Sap Lake, and also by over-harvesting of water snakes, the staple diet of this fish eagle population.

Challenges:

Project Links:

(no history) (no field notes)
Publications and Data (no misc. information)
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Location Note:

Cambodia

Species involved

People involved in this project:

Malcolm Nicoll
Ruth Tingay
Sun Visal
Rick Watson Ph.D. Vice President and Director of International Programs

Cooperating Partners: