Crested Shelduck - Conservation

Conservation

The Crested Shelduck has never been numerous in modern times, though it is thought to have been more widespread historically due to its presence in Japanese aviculture. The species is known from only a handful of sightings and some retroactively declared it extinct in 1916 after a female was shot at Busan, South Korea. In 1943, a sighting of this bird was reported near Chushinhokudo, building hopes that the species persisted. A group of three birds, two females and a male, was sighted by two Russian students in 1964 in the Rimsky-Korsakov Archipelago near Vladivostok with a small flock of Harlequin Ducks. In 1971 it was reported from North Korea's northeast coast and in 1985 two were reported from eastern Russia. However, there are severe doubts about the accuracy of the 1971 record. A recent survey of Chinese hunters resulted in a number of unconfirmed reports from northeastern China. For example, a Chinese forest worker claimed that he unknowingly ate two in 1984. There are also unconfirmed reports of about twenty Crested Shelducks in the Dashanbao region of Yunnan, though many believe this flock to be a misidentified flock of Ruddy Shelducks. It is believed that, if the species survives, there likely are fewer than 50 individuals.

This species is threatened with extinction due to habitat loss, hunting, and overcollecting. In an attempt to gather reports of this species and raise awareness to prevent hunters from consuming this species, 300,000 leaflets were distributed in Russia, Japan, China, South Korea, and North Korea in 1983, with the only resulting report being the 1971 North Korea record. 15,000 leaflets were distributed in northeastern China in 1985 and 1991. While this garnered 82 reports of the species, follow-up surveys of the area failed to find the shelduck. The Tumangan Development Project is threatening to destroy potential habitat in the area of several of the historic records.