The Gurney’s Pitta (above) was once considered extinct but new research reveals a large population in Myanmar.

THE resurgence of the Gurney’s Pitta (pitta gurneyi) bird species continues. Widely considered extinct until the discovery of a population in Thailand in 1986, new research has shown that there could be as many as 35,000 Gurney’s Pitta territories in Myanmar’s southern Tanintharyi Division.

One territory generally represents a pair of birds, as Gurney’s Pitta is thought to be monogamous.

A paper published online last week in Bird Conservation International estimates there are somewhere between 9300 and 35,000 Gurney’s Pitta territories in Myanmar, although the figure probably lies around a mid-point of 20,000 territories, said a spokesperson from BirdLife International, an association of more than 100 conservation organisations.

“These results are extremely significant because the previously published population estimate for Myanmar was 5000 to 8500 pairs,” said Mr Jonathan Eames, the program manager for BirdLife International in Indochina. “So [this research] at least doubles the known population. This is very important for a species considered globally endangered with extinction.”

Gurney’s Pitta, which is endemic to southern Thailand and Myanmar, was classified as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources until the discovery of populations in Myanmar led to its downlisting to “endangered” in 2008.

However, Mr Eames told The Myanmar Times via email last week it was unlikely to be downgraded further as a result of the new research because the rate of population decline in Myanmar was still unclear.

Habitat loss related to oil palm cultivation has reduced the species to just 17 known territories in southern Thailand and this is also the major threat to the Gurney’s Pitta in Myanmar, Mr Eames said.

Satellite imagery shows that its habitat – biologically diverse lowland Sundaic forest – is continuing to decline here, he said.

“Lowland forest continues to be lost throughout Southeast Asia, principally for the establishment of commercial oil palm estates. This is the principle threat to the Gurney’s Pitta in Myanmar, although for the moment there is evidence of a decline in the rate of clearance, which may be linked to the global economic downturn,” he said.

While the small Thai population is located in Khao Pra Bang Kram Wildlife Sanctuary, the Myanmar population remains unprotected. Mr Eames said the establishment of the proposed Lenya National Park in Tanintharyi Division “is the single most important step that could be taken to conserve Gurney’s Pitta and the wildlife of southern Tanintharyi Division”.

“Since 99 percent of the global population is in Myanmar it is essential that we conserve a viable population there,” Mr Eames said. “In other words, this species can only be saved from global extinction through the efforts we make and the steps we take in Myanmar. The best way to conserve this species is through the establishment of protected areas.”

“Gurney’s Pitta hangs on in only a small fragment of its former Thai range and this is the prospect for its range in Myanmar too unless there is comprehensive land-use planning in Tanintharyi [Division], which includes the establishment of Lenya National Park.”

The Myanmar government initially came up with the idea of establishing the park but it remains just a proposal.

“The idea is a very good one because so far there is no representative protected area in southern Tanintharyi Division and by establishing this national park, Myanmar will be fulfilling its global responsibilities under the Convention on Biological Diversity, to which it is a signatory. Donor nations need to be ready to support this decision. We strongly support this idea and BirdLife is ready to [provide] support to the government [to establish the park].”

BirdLife has previously described Lenya and the neighbouring Ngawun forest as “one of the top global priorities for conservation, [areas] rich in endangered wildlife but currently unprotected”.

“They are truly Myanmar’s hidden treasure but time to ensure their protection is running out,” the organisation said in November 2006.

The new research was funded by the UK government’s Darwin Initiative and led by Dr Paul Donald from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the British arm of BirdLife International. Local NGO Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association and the Indochina program of BirdLife International also took part in the program.

Further research to be conducted next year will seek to find the species at new locations both in Myanmar and Thailand.