• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

ISSN : 0971-7447 ENVIS BULLETIN ________________________________________________________________________ HIMALAYAN ECOLOGY Volume 10, No.1, 2002 G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (An autonomous Institute of Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India) Kosi-Katarmal, Almora - 263 643, Uttarakhand, India G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development 1 About the Bulletin This bulletin is a bi-annual no priced publication of ENVIS Centre on Himalayan Ecology at G.B. Pant Institute of Hilmalayan Environment and Development, Almora. The Centre is supported by funds from Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, under INFOTERA Programme of UNEP. The Centre is building databases on information related to Himalayan Ecology and expertise(Human and Subject) available in the region and ongoing activities. Information is supplied to users(non-commercial) free of cost at present. Request for subscription may be sent at the address given below. Contribution to bulletin are welcome. The matter supplied may be edited for length and clarity. The content of the bulletin may be quoted or reproduced for non-commercial use, provided source is duly acknowledged. For Further details Contact: Dr. K.S. Rao Scientist –in-charge, Environmental Information System (ENVIS) on Himalayan Ecology Executive Editor, ENVIS Bulletin, G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora – 263 643, Uttaranchal, India Tel : 05962-241041(O) Fax : 05962-231507 E-mail: [email protected] URL : http://www.gbpihed.nic.in/envis/envis.html 2 ENVIS Bulletin: Himalayan Ecology and Development, 10(1), 2002 Contents Research Papers SOME RECORDS OF THE ENDANGERED CHEER PHEASANT IN GARHWAL, CENTRALHIMALAYA M.S. Bisht, B.S.Kathait and Anoop K. Dobriya INTRODUCTION OF THE EUROPEAN PINES IN THE HIMALAYAS: A BRIEF NOTE Bhaskar Sinha A DYNAMIC SCENARIO OF LIVESTOCK AND DAIRY PRODUCTION IN UTTARANCHAL HILLS Vir Singh And Pradeep M Tulachan STATUS OF SEISMICITY IN THE NORTHEAST INDIA AND EARTHQUAKE DISASTER MITIGATION R.P. Tiwari Summary of completed/ongoing projects STUDIES ON GENETIC DIVERSITY AND IMPROVEMENT OF ABUCKTHORN A MULTIPURPOSE PLANT OF COLD DESERT HIMALAYAS Virendra Singh CONSERVATION AND PROPAGATION OF THREE ENDEMIC ENDANGERED AND RARE PLANT SPECIES OF SAHARANPUR- SIWALIKS, DOON VALLEY AND LOWER MUSSORIE FORESTS Y.P.S. Pundir AFFORESTATION BASED ECO-CONSERVATION IN GANGOTRI-GAUMUKH AREA Harshwanti Bisht SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION INTEGRATING THE RURAL WOMEN DEVELOPMENT IN MOTNA VILLAGE AT TEHRI GARHWAL DISTRICT, UTTARANCHAL R.K. Uniyal ECO-BIOLOGY AND REGENERATION POTENTIAL OF WOODY PERENNIALS OF RIVERLINE VEGETATION FROM DEOPRAYAG TO RISHIKESH Arvand Kumar COLLECTION AND EVALUATION OF NON-CONVENTIONAL FOOD PLANTS OF ASSAM AND NAGALAND A.K. Handique G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development 3 Xk<oky {ks= ds LFkkbZ fodkl gsrq udnh Qlykksa ,oa pkjs dk mRiknu misUnz lrh Selected Abstracts News & Views Hindi Section jkT; Lrjh; cky foKku dkaxzsl 2001 mRrj iwokZpay ds xkWjks fgYl esa ,d vuks[kk ’osr Lo.kZ iquhr eksgu Xakxks=h /kkfeZd] ,sfrgkfld ,ao oSKkfud fo’ys’k .k egsUnz flag fejky] fdjhV dqekj ,ao o:.k tks’kh D;ksa mnklhu gSa fo’o /kjksgj LFky “uUnknsoh tSoe.My vkjf{kr {ks= ” ds fuoklh ? Lqkuhy ukSfV;ky] ds0 ,l0 jko ,oa vkj0 ds0 eS[kqjh mRrjkapy ds xkzeh.k ifjos’k es vYi Kku] de tkuk-igpkuk] fons’kh Qy-yksdkV dqynhi flag usxh ,oa deys’k pUnz equhe 4 ENVIS Bulletin: Himalayan Ecology and Development, 10(1), 2002 SOME RECORDS OF THE ENDANGERED CHEER PHEASANT IN GARHWAL, CENTRAL HIMALAYA M.S. Bisht, B.S.Kathait and Anoop K. Dobriyal Department of Zoology, HNB Garhwal University Campus, Pauri Garhwal - 246 001, Uttaranchal. INTRODUCTION Cheer pheasant Catreus wallichii (Hardwicke), known as Chair or Phukrans in the local dilect, is a well known sport bird of the Garhwal Himalaya (Photograph on cover page). It belongs to the order Galliformes and family - Phasianidae. It is found in the Himalayan forests at an altitude above 1000 m especially in the hill slopes having steep rocky cliffs, long grasses and scattered trees. Formerly, cheer was distributed from Pakistan through Kashmir, Himanchal Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Nepal between the rivers Indus and Kali-Gandaki (Ali & Ripley, 1980; Delacour, 1977). But overhunting and habitat destruction caused depletion of it’s populations. As a result, now it has been restricted to certain selected pockets only. So far, 14 sites along the distributional range (excluding Garhwal Himalaya) were known to hold Cheer populations and unfortunately most of them have small number of birds (less than 10). Due to this, the International Council for Bird preservation has granted the status of endangered species to it (King, 1981). Recently, also it has been enlisted as the restricted range species in BirdLife International (Statterfield et al ., 1997). To save the endangered and endemic Cheer pheasant some re-introduction programmes have already been launched in India and abroad (Garson et al., 1992; Ridley & Islam, 1987). Such type of efforts are still very far in the Uttaranchal state due to complete lack of base line data on distribution, status, ecology and bahaviour. STUDY AREA AND METHODOLOGY From November 2000 to March 2001, preliminary surveys were made in different forests of the District Pauri Garhwal and Chamoli (20 o26 ′ to 31 o5′ N and 78 o to 80 o E). Based on the prior informations of the local people, viz ., ladies who routinely visit in the forests, hunters and forest personnel, the possible habitats were visited by a team of 2 to 3 members during morning and evening hours. Records were maintained on number of Cheer sighted and presence of the indices such as feathers, faeces, feeding pecks and calls. Records were also made on the location of sites, altitude, type and status of forest, number of sightings and time spent in the field. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In preliminary surveys, the endangered Cheer pheasant was observed at more than 26 sites. Sightings of pheasants were recorded at 11 sites (Table 1), while indices such as feathers, faeces, feeding pecks and calls were noticed in rest of the sites. Direct encounter occurred in the Chir pine forest and pine mixed oak forest of Achcherikhal, Mandakhal, Agrora, Adwani and Chhantikhal area of the District Pauri Grahwal. In Chamoli District Pheasant were sighted in Udamanda, Bingarh- Khalsemi, Kaparteer, Mehalchauri, Birahi and Joshimath area. Like the populations reported outside Garhwal Himalaya (Garson et al ., 1992) most of the sites have small number of birds. While over a century ago, Cheer pheasant has been described as common game species of the area (Hume and Marshall, 1879). Flocks having more than half dozen birds were recorded only in some reserve forests where either access is not easy ( e.g ., Adwani and Kaparteer) or hunting is strictly banned (as in Joshimath area which is adjacent to the Nanda devi biosphere reserve). With Cheer, two other himalayan pheasants, viz ., White crested Kaleej ( Lophura leucomelana hamiltoni ) and koklas ( Pucrasia macrolopha ) were also recorded in mixed forests of Pinus roxburghii , Quercus incana , Rhododenderon species etc . Based on the evidences it can be inferred that hunting is one of the main reasons for population decline of Cheer pheasant in Garhwal Himalaya. We have authentic evidences of Cheer shooting in some of the sites. For example during surveys at one site in Pauri Garhwal, seven Cheer (4 males and 3 females) were shot by local hunter in just two consecutive days of December, 2000. Similary, entire region has hunting pressure during winter months (November to G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development 5 February) of every year inspite of complete ban under the Wildlife Protection Act 1973 and 1980. Apart from hunting, other observed causes for the depletion of Cheer pheasant in Garhwal region are fire and deforestation cheer pheasant usually prefers pine forests, which are most vulnerable for fire. Now the time has come when policies and legislative acts should be strictly followed and the forests to be managed, so that we can make our new state, Uttaranchal prosperous through wise use of natural resources. Table 1. Records of Cheer Pheasant in Garhwal Himalaya . S.N. Name of sites Altitude Type of Forest and No. of Maximum no. of dominant tree sps. Sightings Cheer sighted in a sighting 1. Achcherikhal 1600 Chir- Pine forest 4 3* (Pinus roxburghii ) 2. Mandakhal 1650 ---do--- 2 5* 3. Adwani 1750 Chir- Pine forest, 6 >12 Pine mixed Oak Forest (Pinus roxburghii,Quecrus incana, Rhododenderon sp.) 4. Agrora 1600 Chir- Pine forest 3 9* (Pinus roxburghii ) 5. Chhantikhal 1300 -----do----- 3 3 6. Udamanda 1700 Chir pine and mixed forest 1 3 (P. rixburghii, Q. incana) 7. Bingarh-Khalsemi 1500 Chir- Pine forest 4 4 ( Pinus roxburghii) 8. Kaparteer 1700 Chir pine and mixed forest 2 4 (P. roxburghii,Q. incana) 9. Mehalchauri 1850 -----do----- 2 4 10. Joshimath 2000 -----do----- 3 >8 11. Birhai 1320 Chir- Pine forest 1 2 (Pinus roxburghii) *Hunting pressure noticed ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Senior author is grateful to the Department of Environment, Government of India for financial assistance. Thanks are also due to various people who provided us necessary information about the presence of pheasant in different parts of the surveyed area. REFERENCES Ali, S. and Ripley, S.D. 1983. Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan , compact edition. Oxford University Press, New Delhi. Delacour, J. 1977. The pheasants of the World . Spur Publication/ World Pheasant Association Diss. Garson, P.J., Young, L. and Kaul, R. 1992. Ecology and conservation of the Cheer pheasant Catreus wallichii : Studies in the wild and the progress of a reintroduction project. Biological Conservation , 59; 25- 35. Hume, A.O. and Marshall, C.H.T. 1879. The wGame birds of India, Burma and Ceylone . Calcutta. King, W.B. 1981. Endangered birds of the world : The I C B P Bird Red Data Book.

Load more

  81

Copy Link