On the edge of extinction, giant ibis discovered in new region
of Cambodia The world's largest ibis, and one of the world's
most endangered birds, has received some good news. A giant ibis
(Thaumatibis giganteawas) has been photographed in the Kampong
Som Valley in Koh Kong Province in Cambodia, the first record
from this province in nearly a hundred years. Adults can grow to
reach nearly 3.5 feet (106 centimeters) long. The bird was
captured by camera trap—an automated camera that uses infrared
to snap photos of cryptic wildlife—by the NGO Wildlife Alliance.
Listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List, the
species is believed to be down to only around 100 breeding
pairs. Most of these live in Cambodia, although a few may
survive in Laos and Vietnam. Wildlife Alliance writes that
Kampong Som Valley "is an amazing ecosystem of flooded
grasslands, wetlands, small lakes and a wide river mixed with
regenerating deciduous and semi evergreen forest. This area of
low population density and low human interfe