El Edwards' pheasant It is endemic in central Vietnam and is historically known from only four provinces: Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue. In 2012 the Edwards pheasant was reclassified to Critically Endangered (CR) according to IUCN Red List criteria. The species is believed to be very rare in the wild; The last two records were of a male captured in 2000 and a male found in a farmer's cage in 2009. It may be closer to extinction and more difficult to rescue than previously thought, with the possibility that it may not even exist. there are remaining wild populations of Edwards' pheasants. 

Its historical range is almost completely devoid of primary forests as a result of a combination of herbicide spraying during the Vietnam War, logging and clearing for agriculture. The hunting pressure from various collectors of forest products represents a great threat and the species may be being affected by indiscriminate capture 

The captive population of Edwards' pheasants was derived from 28 birds of which only about 6 or 8 were female. These birds were collected from the wild between 1924 and 1930, and were Edwards' last pheasant exports from Vietnam. The captive population went through several bottlenecks, the most important of which occurred between 1942 and 1947, which strongly reduced genetic diversity. Previous DNA analyzes showed that all the captive Edwards analyzed (about 70) have the same haplotype in their mitochondrial DNA. 

This suggests that they are probably all descendants of a single female. The project pursues the genetic sampling of all known individuals in the world's zoos, and with it the determination of the degree of hybridization with Swinhoe's pheasant (Lophura swinhoii) and genetic variability of the captive population, in order to enable a selective breeding program and a future reintroduction in Vietnam and Laos.

Full team:
EAZA (European Association of Zoos and Aquariums www.eaza.net), AZA (American Association of Zoos and Aquariums www.aza.org), World Pheasant Association, World Pheasant Association World Pheasant Association: Home), Taxon Advisory Group (TAG Galliformes), VietNature  Home (vietnature.org) (vietnampheasant.org)