Sacred Ibis – an unwelcome guest? (An article from 2008)

The Sacred Ibis is a bird which normally inhabits tropical Africa and the Middle East but these days they can be seen in increasing numbers, especially on the western coastal regions of France. They are an extremely attractive bird much admired by walkers, sightseers and birdwatchers, smaller than a heron, with a long downward curved black beak; the body is white and the wings are white with shades of pink with a black fringe to the ends and rear, black neck and head.

Elegant, graceful, pretty, but above all controversial because they just shouldn’t be here, but here they are and current estimates from the ONCFS put their numbers at around 5000.

The reason for their presence is that back in the mid 1980’s some Ibis escaped from a wildlife park in Brittany, (Branféré in Morbihan), and gradually they successfully bred and established themselves, breeding in colonies, occupying the same wetland habitats as Spoonbills and Egrets where there appears to be no conflict, non the less they are an introduced species and should probably be removed by virtue that fact alone.

The case against them in the first instance is that they have been witnessed to eat Tern eggs and although other species will also eat Tern eggs they are indigenous and therefore form part of an acceptable predation which will have taken place over hundreds, if not thousands of years, but any additional burden placed on a native species, especially by an introduced species that is increasing its population at such a rate has to be considered as a potential threat. Ibis are in fact omnivorous and very often feed where waste is deposited which brings us to the other reason that their presence may be seen as a potential hazard for our native species. One particular area of concern is that they frequently feed in agricultural discharges and open liquid manure pits where they are the only known vertebrate in Europe that feeds regularly on the larvae of dipterous insects, (two winged insects such as mosquitoes). Although there is no concrete evidence at present that this is an issue for other species it is being closely studied, all too often diseases are introduced by an “outsider” that seriously disrupt the natives. The potential health problems from this species to humans, poultry and wild birds in France are reinforced by a study of the Australian White Ibis, a close relative of the Sacred Ibis, by Jonathan Epstein et al. which found that these birds are more frequently found to carry bird flu’s, Newcastle virus, Salmonella and Candida than the majority of other birds.

In Loire Atlantique and Morbihan the Prefects have authorised the destruction of the Sacred Ibis by members of the ONCFS, (L'Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage), by shooting of adults between the dates of 15^th March and 15^th April. But of course, as in all things, not everyone is in agreement and an Association for the Defence of the Sacred Ibis in Brittany has been created to fight against this decision on the basis that the state of knowledge concerning the behaviour of this species is incomplete and that should therefore be enough reason to delay the intervention.

In Poitou-Charentes they are relatively common in the Marais Poitevin and the coastal salt marshes.

What this situation highlights is the problem of introduced species, their possible impact on native species either directly via predation or indirectly from habitat destruction, competition for food resources and the risk of carrying a disease that a native species is unprepared for. In France there are a large number of such introduced species to be found in the wild that are already causing serious problems, many of these are creatures that have been sold to members of the public via the exotic pet trade and then either escaped or have been released deliberately, this even includes putting goldfish in the village pond which although it may seem to be a harmless enough act, the reality is that they can be the direct cause for the destruction of sensitive species already present such as the Great Crested Newt, so please think twice and then think again before releasing anything. If you have an exotic pet that has grown too large or you are unable to manage anymore, try to re home it, and failing that consider having it humanly destroyed.