Anti-Encroachment Drive Brings Rare Falcons, Hornbills to Chhattisgarh Sanctuary

 Raipur: The Udanti-Sitanadi wildlife sanctuary in Chhattisgarh has set a new trend in conservation by attracting rare avian species, peregrine falcon and Malabar hornbill, for the first time, thanks to a massive anti-encroachment drive.

Peregrine falcon, known in the local parlance as Shaheen baz (bird), has been frequently sighted in the Sornamal site, falling under Indagaon Buffer Range of the Udanti-Sitanadi wildlife sanctuary, in the past few months after the area was freed of encroachment, a forest officer said on Monday.

The anti-encroachment drive launched in the sanctuary four years ago has so far cleared 750 hectares in the reserve forest of encroachments, leading to improvement in the habitat quality, deputy director, Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve, Varun Kumar Jain told this newspaper.

“The peregrine falcon, known as cheetah of the sky for being the fastest flying avian species, has been frequently sighted in the Sornamal site in the past few months. The predator raptor hunted a peacock, its prey, in the area on Monday”, Mr. Jain said.

A forest guard, Om Prakash Rao, captured the majestic bird on camera.

Shaheen falcon, known for hunting its prey, smaller birds, from high altitude to mid-air at a lightning speed, is a non-migratory subspecies of peregrine falcon.

The species is usually found in rocky, mountainous, and cliff-side areas.

“The falcon is not documented as the resident avian species of the wildlife sanctuary earlier. The species has been sighted frequently in the past few months after the area was freed of encroachment. The population of the species is estimated to have grown to 22-30”, Mr. Jain said.

Similarly, the Malabar hornbill is also not known to be endemic to the wildlife sanctuary, but the species has been spotted frequently in a hilly region in the sanctuary for the first time, according to him.

The avian species is usually found in the Western Ghats and Lower Himalayan region.

The population of the species is estimated to have grown to around 400 in the wildlife sanctuary, the forest officer said.