Rare bird face extinction at Rollapadu park
Less than five species exist at the Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary and all are females leaving no option to increase their number in future.
Hyderabad: The Great Indian Bustard is about to become extinct in Andhra Pradesh. According to wildlife conservationists less than five Bustards exist at the Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary, all of which are said to be females leaving no option of numbers increasing in the future.
Their population in the country is less than 200 and the bird is found only in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The Andhra Pradesh Forest Department is tight lipped about the present situation of the birds and the officials shy away from speaking about it. The combined failure of forest department officials and the state government’s political will in ensuring the survival of the Great Indian Bustard in AP can be gauged by the fact that about 100 bustards were estimated in Rollapadu grasslands in 1985 which declined to 37 in 2005 and now to less than five.
A major issue has been lack of enough habitats for the birds. The bustards depend on dry grasslands and cannot survive in areas with any other vegetation. Over the years with the linking of Telugu Ganga Canal with Alganur tank there has been an increase in availability of water and the ecosystem has changed from dry grasslands to greener pastures. Even the farming practice has changed from dry land agriculture to water-intensive crops. With this change, the birds gradually declined in population. The AP forest department’s plans to conserve patches of dry grasslands around the Rollapadu too failed to take off.
A wildlife conservationist on condition of anonymity said, “The attitude of the state and Centre towards dry grasslands is poor. They think that there is nothing of importance in grasslands to conserve. This is the why the bustard population has gone down. Creation of Rollapadu sanctuary is a joke as it is just about 7 sq km in size and is teeming with black bucks, which also destroy the grassland habitat.”
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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