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MP on verge of losing Lesser Floricans, state wants breeding center
According to the forest department, Lesser Florican sightings reduced by about 90% in MP in the past four years. In 2015, 48 pairs were sighted in MP.
No more birding delight of witnessing the dance of courtship of Lesser Florican, the smallest bird of the bustard family, in MP. After the great Indian Bustard, grasslands of Madhya Pradesh are on the verge of losing Lesser Floricans.
In a survey conducted in 2020, only three pairs of Lesser Floricans were found in the protected areas in state’s Dhar and two in the unprotected area in Jhabua during monsoon as compared to 11 in 2019, said the state forest officials.
According to the forest department, the bird sightings reduced by about 80% in MP in the past four years. In 2015, 48 birds were sighted in MP.
Lesser Florican has been put under schedule-1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, for the highest degree of protection as the numbers of birds are decreasing at a very fast rate every year.
Despite a decrease in the number of an endangered bird, the forest officials are not clear about the reason.
Ratlam divisional forest officer Vasu Kannojia said, “No bird was sighted in Sailana Bird Sanctuary in Ratlam but we are yet to know the reason behind the disappearance of the bird. We are doing a study on this.”
Sardarpur Florican Sanctuary of Dhar, where three pairs were sighted in 2020, sub-divisional officer of forest division Santosh Kumar Ranshore said, “Human interference in the grassland is the main reason behind losing the bird. For the sanctuary, the government merged about 200 sq km revenue land with the forest land in 1983. The residents of about 14 villages roam around in the sanctuary with their cattle and disturb the habitat of the Florican. We are planning to de-notify the revenue land to reduce human interference.”
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An expert said that crop pattern change and the increase of Nilgai (Blue bull) population are the major reasons behind the decrease.
An ornithology expert, Dilsher Khan, said, “I visited Sardarpur Bird Sanctuary three years ago and found out that birds were not finding enough food due to change in crop varieties. The farmers started sowing soybean in western MP but Lesser Florican eat an insect, mainly found in pulses, namely moong and urad. This is the main reason behind the fall in numbers.”
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“Another reason is an increase in the population of the blue bull as Lesser Florican lays an egg on the grassland and blue bulls destroy the eggs while roaming in the grassland. In the absence of safe habitat and due to crises of food, the bird started disappearing from MP,” he added.
Now, the forest department has sought permission from the ministry of environment and forests and climate change (MoEFCC) to set up conservation and breeding centre for Lesser Florican.
“We are taking the help of Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACONH) to save the birds from extinction in MP. The experts from SACONH will visit the grasslands to select the suitable habitat for the bird,” said JS Chauhan, additional principal chief conservator of forest (APCCF), Wildlife.
