Maharashtra is home to seven of the 15 birds in India which face the threat of extinction and have been classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as ‘Critically Endangered’. This has been revealed in a new book written by reputed ornithologist and director of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Asad Rahmani. The book was launched on Thursday evening at BNHS headquarters in Fort.
Threatened Birds of India — Their Conservation Requirements is a comprehensive reference book on threatened birds in India. It uses the BirdLife/International Union for Conservation of Nature, 2011 list as a base and provides India-specific information. The book includes the most recent information on 15 Critically Endangered, 15 Endangered, 52 Vulnerable, 66 Near Threatened, two Data Deficient bird species and five species with only stray records in India, along with articles on various aspects of bird protection.
Of the 15 critically endangered birds, the seven which reside within Maharashtra are: three categories of vultures (White-backed, Long-billed and King), Great Indian Bustard, Sociable Lapwing, Jerdon’s Courser and Forest Owlet.
Commenting on the poor state of conservation activity in the country, Rahmani said, “A paradigm shift is needed in how we think about conservation. In this country, no conservation activity happens beyond tigers. We need to think about the conservation of other critically endangered species too. Project Tiger gets Rs1,100 crore in the existing budget. It should be increased to Rs5,000 crore to include other species.”
