Bangweulu Shoebill Report

Steps taken to curb illegal Shoebill trade in Bangweulu Wetlands

One of the few strongholds of Shoebill in Africa is the Bangweulu Wetlands in northern Zambia. The wetland system, a part of the Congo Basin, has been managed under a Public Private Partnership, together with local communities by African Parks since 2008.

The intensive management which is being undertaken has resulted in the release of poaching pressure on a multitude of species in the system. This includes, surprisingly, the enigmatic shoebill which occurs here in fair numbers. However, over the past 10 months, investigations have revealed that the shoebill is under extreme pressure from the illegal trade in chicks and possibly eggs, direct human persecution and the ill effects of poachers fires.

The law enforcement operations undertaken have resulted in the confiscation of two chicks which have been hand reared within the project area by David Ngwenyama, a researcher working on shoebill in the area. The two have done extremely well in captivity, taking positively to their minders, feeding strongly and growing vigorously. The younger of the two chicks had shown signs of being imprinted on humans (begging for food and doing a bill clapping greeting call when seeing people) but, since being joined by an older chick has reverted to more natural behaviour.

The older chick has since been fitted with a satellite tag harness and released successfully into the wild and the younger one will follow in the coming weeks. A further chick, from a wild nest, has also been fitted with a satellite tag. As many birds as possible will be tagged and actively followed in the field in order to better understand the population dynamics of shoebill in the Bangweulu system.

In the coming nesting season, nests will be actively guarded by contracted fishermen in the area and more chicks will be fitted with satellite tags before fledging. Park management is also working, together with stakeholders, on a broader conservation strategy to ensure that these fantastic birds have a secure future in the vast wetland wilderness that makes up the Bangweulu Wetlands.