Assam’s Birds Under Threat: Urgent Conservation Plan Needed!
Ornithologist Anwaruddin Choudhury calls for a strategic approach to protect Assam’s 876+ bird species.
Assam, home to over 876 bird species, including 290 migratory varieties, urgently requires a comprehensive conservation strategy to preserve its extraordinary avian diversity, according to renowned ornithologist Anwaruddin Choudhury. Speaking to PTI, Choudhury emphasized that Assam’s bird population, nearly matching Europe’s 930 species despite the state’s significantly smaller size, faces severe threats from habitat loss, hunting, and poaching.
Choudhury, a retired bureaucrat and leading wildlife expert, noted that Assam hosts 12 critically endangered, 10 endangered, 31 vulnerable, and 50 near-threatened species, including the world’s largest populations of the Bengal Florican, White-winged Wood Duck, and Greater Adjutant, most of which are endangered.
He attributed the decline to deforestation, shifting cultivation, mining, and hydroelectric projects, which have decimated habitats. The state’s protected areas, covering just 4.6% of its 3,658 sq km land, need expansion through community-run sanctuaries and conservation reserves in village forests and sacred groves.
To address poaching and illegal trapping of migratory waterfowl, Choudhury urged stricter enforcement of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and enhanced environmental awareness in rural areas. He also recommended halting practices like burning tall grasses during breeding seasons and planting trees in grasslands, which harm species like the Bengal Florican. Further research to monitor threatened species’ populations is critical, he added.
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Assam’s avian richness stems from its unique position at the confluence of Indo-Chinese, Himalayan, and Indian zoogeographic sub-regions, within the Himalaya and Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspots. Choudhury’s latest book, A Pocket Guide to the Birds of Assam, released last month, aims to foster public interest in ornithology and conservation, building on his foundational works from 1990 and 2000.
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