VietNamNet Bridge – In late 2012, the local people on Nhim Island and Dau Tieng reservoir were happy to receive the new members – Nhan storks – a variety named in the Red Book. However, the life of the nice birds has been threatened by the poachers.

“Can you see them, the storks? Each of them is as big as a hen,” Nguyen Van Dap, the canoe driver, told to the reporters who said they wanted to visit the storks’ island.

“I have been carrying passengers here for the last 20 years. But this is for the first time I can see a herd of strange storks,” he said. “At first, there were only several hundreds of birds. But more and more have come. I guess there are thousands storks already.”

Nguyen Tran Vy, MA from the Tropical Biology Institute, affirmed that these are Nhan storks, named in the Red Book where they are marked as “R” (rare).

He said that the habitat of the storks are the muddy wetlands or rice paddies. Their feeds are mainly aquatic creatures. Their reproduction period lasts from October to April of the next year.

In Vietnam, Nhan storks can be seen in Dam Doi and Cai Nuoc in Ca Mau province, Muong Nhe in Dien Bien, Gao Giong in Dong Thap provinces. In the world, they are seen in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

The local people on the Dau Tieng reservoir area now feel worried for the birds. They said that a lot of people from neighboring communes have come and tried to catch the birds.

At first, the poachers soaked the small fished in fertilizer. At night, when storks flew to the forests to sleep, the poachers scattered the small fish in the areas, hoping to get the storks poisoned with the fishes.

However, their plan failed completely, because the storks only ate snails, while they did not eat fish.

“The poachers have changed their method. They soak snails in fertilizer instead of fish. However, the storks seem so wise. They did not eat the poisoned snails as well,” Hieu, a local resident said.

Vy, after watching the stork, found out that the storks used their long beaks to discover the snails under the mud layer to eat them. This means that they only eat the live snails. Sometimes, the storks clawed dead snails, but they later gave up them.

However, though the storks are “clever.” They are still facing high risks. A man said that the storks were once very shy and they would stamped when hearing the noise from engine boat. However, they have got use to bigger noise and they would not run away if people are 100 meters far away from them.

“Therefore, poachers now can kill the birds with self-modified airguns,” he said.

Tran Van Dien, a fisherman, said that the “working day” of poachers begins after noon, when storks stand in groups and plume themselves. At the twilight, after eating themselves fill, the herd of storks would fly to the cajuput forests, where their life can also be threatened. It takes the poachers 30 minutes only to drive motorbikes to the area to hunt for the storks.

No official figure about the killed storks has been released by the local authorities. However, local people have affirmed that storks have been killed in masses.

Thien Nhien