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Islamic State threatens rare northern bald ibis after guards flee endangered species colony
The city captured by the jihadist group has been home to seven of the last wild population in the Middle East
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) capture of Palmyra may cause the extinction of a rare breed of bird.
A tiny colony of the northern bald ibis, pictured, was found near the city in 2002. It was home to seven of the last wild population in the Middle East.
Fighters from Isil entered the ruins of Palmyra after taking complete control of the historic city on Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The al-Qaeda offshoot now control the central city's military air base, prison and intelligence headquarters, according Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Observatory.
The jihadists stormed the world heritage site of Palmyra on Wednesday night as Assad regime forces fled a major offensive in eastern Syria.
When the colony’s guards fled the jihadists last week, the birds were abandoned.
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon is offering a reward for information on the female, which is understood to be the only bird that knows the migration routes to wintering grounds in Ethiopia.