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How Human Behaviors Affect the Giant Ibis:
The Truth Is, Humans Are the Main Reason that the Giant Ibis Population is so Low:
The Giant Ibis population has undergone a rapid decline as a result of forest loss. This forest loss is driven primarily by clearing of land by humans. Humans are doing this in order to “develop industrial scale agriculture, small scale agricultural encroachment and infrastructure developments. The Giant Ibis is now extinct in Vietnam and Thailand, and nearly so in Laos. Its survival depends on its conservation in Cambodia.”
How Humans Also Help the Giant Ibis:
A positive interaction are the conservation efforts of humans for the Giant Ibis. These efforts include protecting nests by the installation of metal belts that prevent predators from accessing them, but the protection of ideal habitat and the increasing human populations in Cambodia continues to be a vexing challenge. Increasing ecotourism in the region and education to local people has also been occurring for the species to successfully recover from the brink of extinction.
Other Detrimental Interactions between the Giant Ibis and Humans:
The Giant Ibis also interacts with humans through their nests. Their nests are located at least 4 km (2.5 mi) from human habitation. The Giant Ibis is “not especially shy around or fearful of humans unless persistently harassed or hunted.” Its interactions with humans may be bad depending on what is occurring between the two (the Giant Ibis and Humans). If they are trying to find a place to nest and they can’t find any, the fact that they are trying to stay away from humans does not help them, so that could be a bit harmful. Also, if humans are harassing or hunting these birds that could also be very harmful because there are less than 200 Giant Ibis only left in the world.
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