Status
This species is considered endangered by the IUCN. Its numbers declined in the 1960s and 1970s due to loss of primary forests in its limited range, particularly along the major rivers. Current threats include illegal hunting, entanglement in fishing nets and river pollution, as well as ongoing destruction of forest. According to its current IUCN classification EN C2a(ii), fewer than 2500 adult birds remain, and most of these are found in the region where the borders of China, North Korea and Russia meet.
A confounding factor is that the Scaly-sided Merganser is rather solitary and extremely shy and alert. Thus, even though its range is still quite extensive, an accurate estimate of its population is difficult. A somewhat crude but nonetheless important indication of the Scaly-sided Merganser's population status may be gleaned by annual censuses on the lower Yangtze River, which constitutes the single most important wintering area known to date. The mid-2000s assumption of a 20% or more decline in numbers til 2010 is discarded at present, because though the decline is certainly ongoing there is still too little data to quantify it that accurately.
Read more about this topic: Scaly-sided Merganser
Famous quotes containing the word status:
“The influx of women into paid work and her increased power raise a woman’s aspirations and hopes for equal treatment at home. Her lower wage and status at work and the threat of divorce reduce what she presses for and actually expects.”
—Arlie Hochschild (20th century)
“[In early adolescence] she becomes acutely aware of herself as a being perceived by others, judged by others, though she herself is the harshest judge, quick to list her physical flaws, quick to undervalue and under-rate herself not only in terms of physical appearance but across a wide range of talents, capacities and even social status, whereas boys of the same age will cite their abilities, their talents and their social status pretty accurately.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)
“What is clear is that Christianity directed increased attention to childhood. For the first time in history it seemed important to decide what the moral status of children was. In the midst of this sometimes excessive concern, a new sympathy for children was promoted. Sometimes this meant criticizing adults. . . . So far as parents were put on the defensive in this way, the beginning of the Christian era marks a revolution in the child’s status.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)