Endangered Giant Ibis found in Cambodia nesting grounds

epa03831230 A handout photograph made available by World Wide Fund for nature (WWF), on 20 August 2013, shows a giant ibis searching for food in a pond in Mondulkiri province, Cambodia, 29 March 2012. According to a report of the WWF, a giant ibis nest was found a few kilometers from the Mekong river between Kratie and Stung Treng towns in northeast Cambodia by a local villager. EPA/WWF-CAMBODIA / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

PHNOM PENH: Jubilant conservationists expressed hope for the survival of the critically-endangered Giant Ibis after a nest of the bird species was discovered in a previously unknown habitat in northeastern Cambodia.

Habitat loss and poaching has pushed the Giant Ibis to the edge of extinction, with around only 345 of the reclusive creatures – distinctive for their bald heads and long beaks – left anywhere in the world, 90% of them in Cambodia.