Sacred Ibis in Northern Italy: Invasive Species Spreads
The Sacred Ibis, also known as the Pharaoh Ibis, is a bird species from the family of ibises and spoonbills, originally found almost exclusively in Africa.
Venerated in ancient Egypt, the Sacred Ibis has spread from its native Africa to Europe.
The Sacred Ibis is not native to Italy and most likely originates from captivity, for example from a zoo. Some animals in zoos were previously able to fly freely.
The bird species is now found throughout northern Italy and poses a challenge to local wildlife in the area.
According to ornithologists, the birds are spreading like wildfire from Africa and Iraq. They warn of the risks to local fauna.
The species inhabits marshy wetlands and mudflats, where it nests in trees located in or near water.
Sacred Ibises are present en masse throughout northern Italy
The ornithological association AsOER of Emilia-Romagna is convinced that the phenomenon has spread across the entire Emilia-Romagna region.
The Sacred Ibis has begun nesting en masse in Bologna, Modena and especially Ferrara. Ravagnani believes that there are already thousands of birds in the northern Italian region.
The Sacred Ibis is a non-native species that should not be present in Italy. It has escaped from or been released by facilities in northern Italy. Its story is similar to that of the nutria, according to Ravagnani. Nutria, affectionately referred to in Italy as “little beavers,” are native South American rodents that are now spreading throughout the country because they have no natural predators there.
Why does the Sacred Ibis pose a problem?
The Sacred Ibis has been on the European Commission’s list of invasive alien species for almost a decade. The birds are also listed in DAISIE, a registry of alien invasive species in Europe.
In the EU Regulation on the prevention, management and spread of invasive alien species, it states that invasive alien species are one of the greatest threats to biological diversity and the associated ecosystem services. The risks posed by these species may be exacerbated by increasing global trade, transport, tourism and climate change.
The Sacred Ibis is a pronounced dietary opportunist, feeding on reptiles, fish, crustaceans, large insects, snails, and occasionally carrion. Landfill sites are regularly searched for food. Along the coast, it can also specialise in eggs and nestlings.
How did the Sacred Ibis come to Europe?
Around 1700, a pair of Sacred Ibises from Africa, Iraq and Yemen arrived in France. A century later, the species was spotted in the wild in Austria and Italy.
In France, free-flying populations from zoos in Brittany established themselves in the wild along the Atlantic coast during the 1980s and 1990s. In recent years, eradication programmes have reduced the number of birds, but they have not been able to eradicate them entirely.
Spain has succeeded in eradicating its entire Sacred Ibis population, and birds entering from France are generally shot by hobby hunters. The question of whether hobby hunting serves as population control for invasive species remains contested.
The Italian population is believed to originate either from the migration of free-flying French populations or from the Italian zoo Le Cornelle in Lombardy, which once had a free-flying population of the bird. A study in the journal Nature Scientific Reports documents that the species began in 1989 with a single pair in northwestern Italy. Twenty years later, more than 10’000 birds were recorded in the region.
