In 2011, WSCC of Mongolia and its partner Mongolian Academy of Sciences conducted a fieldwork to collect avian influenza samples from wild waterfowls at selected western Mongolian lakes and wetlands. We visited 19 lakes and wetlands in 5 provinces in western Mongolia. The team collected a total of 549 avian influenza samples from 5 species during the field work. The team aimed to live capture and collect adequate samples from waterbirds during moulting period. In addition, fecal samples were collected from selected lakes.

The team first time collected a large number of serum samples from live captured whooper swans and bar-headed geese in Mongolia. It will provide a rare opportunity to screen these birds for various diseases including HPAI.All sampled birds were marked with neck collars with unique identification numbers. So, future re-sightings of these birds will be useful to connect or make speculation about the connectivity between diseases, origin, and geographical locations.

Vultures are an ecologically vital group of birds that face a range of threats in many areas that they occur. Populations of many species are under pressure and some species are facing extinction.

An international vulture awareness day was organized throughout world on September 3rd 2011. WSCC participated in this important event by organizing lectures in middle and high schools. During the vent, researchers from the Center gave a series of lectures about Old and New World vultures, their conservation importance, and ecology to the students at five schools including two ecology oriented schools, Mother Nature and Shavi Complex School, in Ulaanbaatar.

Main aim of the lectures was to deliver information about this group of birds to young people. We hope our activity have helped Mongolian youths to improve their ecological awareness and understand challenges in endangered species conservation. We intend to celebrate The International Vulture Awareness Day annually and broaden our activity during this special occasion.