Threats
The Pygmy Cormorant is a species with habitats strongly affected by human actions. Threats include the drainage and serious degradation of wetlands and their associated woodland, water pollution, disturbance, and the illegal hunting and drowning of many Pygmy Cormorants in fishing nets.Being a great fish consumer and also destroys the fishing nets it is often persecuted by fishermen. In Romania the ponds drainage located on inferior course of Danube in order to practice agriculture, the accidental death of birds captive in improvised fishing nets, destroying of nests by the professional fishermen in order to protect the fish resources drove to decreasing of number of individuals and including the species on IUCN red list as a vulnerable species. It is also hunted in leisure activities, and in Iran the Pygmy Cormorant is commercialized in order to be cooked.
This species is distinguished from the Great Cormorant and the Common Shag by its much smaller size, lighter build, and long tail. It feeds mainly on fish, often hunting in groups, and perches in trees between fishing expeditions. The biggest colony is in the Danube Delta, numbering 4,000 pairs, but this seems certain to plunge due to a massive canalization scheme, which despite the protected status of the delta, commenced in May 2004.
The Pygmy Cormorant is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
Read more about this topic: Pygmy Cormorant
Famous quotes containing the word threats:
“Southerners, whose ancestors a hundred years ago knew the horrors of a homeland devastated by war, are particularly determined that war shall never come to us again. All Americans understand the basic lessons of history: that we need to be resolute and able to protect ourselves, to prevent threats and domination by others.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“Among the best traitors Ireland has ever had, Mother Church ranks at the very top, a massive obstacle in the path to equality and freedom. She has been a force for conservatism, not on the basis of preserving Catholic doctrine or preventing the corruption of her children, but simply to ward off threats to her own security and influence.”
—Bernadette Devlin (b. 1947)
“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”
—Bible: New Testament, Luke 3:14.
John the Baptist to Soldiers.