The global milky stork population has been declining substantially, especially from the late 1980s, and has been largely attributable to habitat destruction and disturbance through mangrove deforestation for human activities such as fish farming, tidal rice cultivation, timber exploitation, and in Indonesia, human resettlement. Deforestation has led to a lack of suitable mature trees for the species to nest in and thereby affected breeding success. Breeding colonies have also declined through increased illegal international trade in this bird from the mid-1980s and, especially in South Sumatra, poaching of eggs and juveniles for human consumption. Juveniles in particular have been sold to and purchased by zoos in Singapore, Kula Lampur, Brunei, and several European zoos. The milky stork is said to be generally vulnerable to human disturbance, which may also explain the marked widespread decline of this species. Although fishponds and shrimp farms, for example, can provide additional feeding grounds and therefore allow feeding opportunism for this species, presence of these manmade structures can disturb nearby breeding and therefore affect the population in the long term.