Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 June 2021 | 13(7): 18894–18898
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6258.13.7.18894-18898
#6258 | Received 03 June 2020 | Final
received 30 May 2021 | Finally accepted 07 June 2021
Population and conservation
threats to the Greater Flamingos Phoenicopterus
roseus (Aves: Phoenicopteriformes: Phoenicopteridae) at Basai
Wetland and Najafgarh Jheel Bird Sanctuary, Haryana,
India
Amit Kumar 1 &
Sarita Rana 2
1 Department of Zoology,
Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Haryana 136119, India.
2 Department of Zoology, Institute
of Integrated and Honors Studies, Kurukshetra
University, Kurukshetra, Haryana 136119, India.
1 kdamit8@gmail.com (corresponding
author), 2 saritarana20@gmail.com
Editor: Zafar-ul
Islam, National Wildlife Research Center Ecology and
Biology, Taif, Saudi Arabia. Date
of publication: 26 June 2021 (online & print)
Citation: Kumar, A. & S. Rana (2021). Population and conservation
threats to the Greater Flamingos Phoenicopterus
roseus (Aves: Phoenicopteriformes: Phoenicopteridae) at Basai
Wetland and Najafgarh Jheel Bird Sanctuary, Haryana,
India. Journal of
Threatened Taxa 13(7): 18894–18898. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6258.13.7.18894-18898
Copyright: © Kumar & Rana 2021. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Council of Scientific
& industrial Research (CSIR).
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: One of the authors Mr. Amit Kumar
is thankful to the Human Resource Development Group (HRDG) Council of
Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India for providing
financial assistance to carry out this research work with the file no.
09/105(0278)/2018- EMR-1. The authors are thankful to the Department of
Zoology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra for providing necessary facilities
to carry out this study. The authors are also thankful to Mr. Harsh Gulati,
Miss Parul, and Miss Anjali for giving their valuable
time and help in data collection.
Abstract: Greater Flamingos are the largest
and most widespread, among other species of Phoenicopteridae.
This study documents the population structure and conservation threats
affecting the population and habitat of the flamingos at Najafgarh Jheel Bird Sanctuary and Basai
wetland in Haryana, India. The study areas were surveyed monthly between May
2019 to February 2020 at regular intervals. A Nikon 8 X 40 field binoculars and
a Nikon SX60 camera were used to observe flocks of P. roseus. A total of
65 flocks of flamingo were observed, and 6,768 individuals were counted using
point counts method. Najafgarh Jheel Bird Sanctuary
holds a major proportion of their population comprising about 91.78 % and Basai wetland holds about 8.21 % of their population, while
52.46 % of the total population were classified as adults, and 47.53 % were
juveniles (sub-adults). Habitat fragmentation resulting from construction of
roads is one of the major threats, while overgrowth of water hyacinth, cattle
grazing and fishing activities at Basai Wetland,
adversely affected the flamingos. At the Najafgarh Jheel,
cattle grazing was considered to be the major threat, followed by the overgrown
water hyacinth, fishing activities and collision with high tension power lines.
Keywords: Cattle grazing, Gurugram,
habitat, population, water hyacinth, wetland.
Flamingos
are gregarious birds that live in flocks, ranging from a few to thousands often
referred to as Pat (Tere 2005; Johnson & Cezilly 2007). The Greater Flamingos Phoenicopterus
roseus are the largest, and most common among all the species of flamingos.
Food and suitable habitat are key factors affecting its distribution (Ali 1987;
Jenkin 1957). The Greater Flamingos primarily feed on phytoplankton,
zooplankton, crustaceans, molluscs, sedge seeds and the remains of higher
plants (Ali 1987; Tere 2005). Availability of food, water quality, depth,
and influence of predator are some important factors that influence the
population and distribution of waterbirds (Arengo & Baldassarre 1995; Baldassarre & Arengo 2000; Pirela 2000; Tuite 2000).
Flamingos
use habitats including fresh and salt water, brackish water, shallow lagoons,
alkaline lakes, saltpans, and mudflats (Ali 1987; Grimmett
et al. 1998). Being wetland specialists, Greater Flamingos are found to feed,
roost, and nest in the wetlands, hence any change or loss in their habitat is
considered a significant threat.
The present
study was conducted to assess the population structure and to document
conservation threats at Basai wetland and Najafgarh Jheel Bird Sanctuary, which are declared Important Bird
Areas (IBA) by BirdLife International (Islam & Rahmani 2004). Population abundance and conservation
threats for Greater flamingos were carried out in Gurugram District of Haryana.
The current study recommends conservation measures to mitigate threats to
flamingos and other species of waterbirds in these
IBA sites.
Study
area
Basai
wetland
Basai wetland (28.468N, 76.981E; 216–219 m) is named after the village Basai, in Gurugram District in Haryana, India. The wetland
close to Basai-Dhankot railway station and 8 km from
the Sultanpur National Park. It is a perennial shallow water wetland
with an area of 250 acres and is an IBA that has global conservation
significance as it supports populations of several endangered, vulnerable, and
threatened bird species (Islam & Rahmani 2004).
Najafgarh Jheel Bird Sanctuary
Najafgarh Jheel Bird Sanctuary (28.498N, 76.946E), located on the
Delhi-Haryana border, and estimated around 7 km long, is the part of Sahibi River. The Najafgarh Jheel
Bird Sanctuary extends to two villages, Kherki-Majra
and Dhankot with an area of 298 acres, in the
Gurugram District of Haryana, India. As untreated sewage flows into it, the Jheel is one of the most contaminated, though still an
important habitat for many species of birds and plants.
Methods
The
selected sites were surveyed on a monthly basis, from May 2019 to February
2020. The data were collected from sunrise to sunset. A combination of field
observations, and time series imagery were used to identify changes in the open
water area. Observations were carried out by using a Nikon 8 X 40 field
binoculars and a Nikon SX60 camera. Birds were counted monthly using the point
count method (Sutherland 2006; Bibby et al. 2000) and locations of each
sighting of flocks were recorded by means of a hand-held GPS device. To
construct a distribution map of the study area the geographic information
system (GIS) software (Arc-GIS 10.5) was used. Various threats were determined
through direct observations. A total of 17 people were interviewed throughout
the study period. To reach study sites at various locations, different modes of
transport were used. Adults and immature (sub-adults) birds were identified
based on their plumage (Allen 1956; Johnson & Cezilly
2007).
ResultS
Population
structure
A total of
65 flocks of flamingos were observed, and 6,768 individuals of Greater
Flamingos were counted from May 2019 to February 2020. Najafgarh Jheel Bird Sanctuary holds a major proportion of their
population comprising 91.78 % and Basai wetland holds
8.21% of their population (Table 1).
Among 6,768
individuals of Greater Flamingos 52.46 % were classified as adults and 47.53 %
were juveniles (sub-adults), while chicks were not observed. The number of
adults observed were slightly more as compared to juveniles at both the
wetlands (Figure 2).
Threats
Major threats
in study area including habitat destruction, fragmentation, collision with
power line, Invasion of water hyacinth, fishing activities, dumping of solid
wastes, release of untreated sewage, diverting of water flow, cattle herds, and
feral dogs. Being larger in size, Greater Flamingos are attacked by very few
predators though a Black Kite Milvus migrans
was observed attacking them.
Construction
of roads along wetlands and draining of wetland are some main anthropogenic
activities at Basai Wetland that result in
fragmentation and shrinkage of habitats (Image 1). Overgrowth of water
hyacinth, cattle grazing, and fishing activities at Basai
Wetland, also adversely affect the flamingo population.
At the Najafgarh Jheel, cattle grazing was observed to be the major threat,
followed by the overgrown water hyacinth, fishing activities, and collision
with high tension power lines. There is a huge network of powerlines in the
area of Najafgarh Jheel Bird sanctuary that pose a
high risk to Greater Flamingos (Image 2) and other birds. As this site was not
frequently visited by birdwatchers, incidents of bird collisions with powelines remained unnoticed.
Both study
sites, wetlands are infested with water hyacinth observed throughout the year
and that confines the feeding area (Image 3).
Discussion
Distribution
of Greater flamingos is associated with their habitat as these birds are
habitat specialists and depend thoroughly on wetlands as they roost, feed, and
nest in an aquatic habitat. During the present studies, 91.78 % Flamingo were
recorded at Najafgarh Jheel Bird Sanctuary. It is important to monitor flamingo
population and how they adapt to current conservation threats, to find out
strategies for ensuring their survival. The above-mentioned conservation
threats are observed to affect flamingos’ distribution and abundance at both
the wetlands. Wetlands are constantly facing enormous anthropogenic pressures
(Prasad et al. 2002), owing to the rapid urbanization that causes the native
species to become eventually extinct in a specific area (Godefroid
2001). Regular decline in level of water at Basai
wetland due to various anthropogenic activities (Figure 3), reduces the
population of Flamingos. Less number of birds were recorded near human houses
or where people move around. It is observed at the nesting colony elsewhere,
with a slight disturbance (anthropogenic or natural) flamingos abandon the colony
and, consequently, to a failure of nesting (Rameshchandra
2014). Here at both these study locations no breeding and nesting were
observed, probably due to human disturbances including fishing and cattle
grazing activities.
Flamingo
collision with electrical lines is listed as a hazard (Parasharya
& Tere 2006; Johnson & Ceilly
2007), which affect the population locality (Childress et al. 2008). Our finding shows that collision with
powerlines is a threat that was observed at Najafgarh Jheel
Bird Sanctuary that was responsible for the mortality of Flamingos and other
birds (Figure 5) as observed by other researchers at other Flamingos inhabiting
sites (Tere & Parasharya
2011; Rameschandra 2014). Normally, birds collide
with powerlines at night and sometimes during the day as well in some
instances. Flamingos are reported to fly at night and in low light conditions
(Ogilvie & Ogilvie 1986; Johnson & Cezilly
2007). Repeated instances of mortality due to wire collision have been reported
at various sites of Gujarat, where a total of 76 flamingo death were recorded
by Tere & Parasharya
(2011); Rameshchandra (2014) reported that around 50
flamingos were found dead at Kumbharwada site of
Gujarat. Mortality of Sarus Crane due to collision
with power lines was reported by Sundar &
Choudhury (2005); Gosai et al. (2016).
A rapid
spread of water hyacinth has been noted by us, at both the habitats (Figure 5).
This growth progressively reduces the open water area, available to the
flamingos. If this encroachment by hyacinth is not controlled, it will
adversely affect the population of flamingos.
Following
are some measures to be considered:
1. Water
Hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes
could be utilized for bedding material for mushroom cultivation and as bio fuel
(Bote et al. 2020), as an effective means of economic
utilization of the weed. This would also raise the state’s revenue, in addition
to generating employment at local level and value added goods.
2. To
reduce the collisions with powerlines at Najafgarh Jheel
Bird Sanctuary, the effective measure suggested by Tere
& Parasharya (2011) to be adopted.
3.
Restriction of fishing during specified times of the year, licensing of capture
permit and limits, fencing some of the selected portion, are possible
protection measures.
4. Sewage
water must be treated before release into these habitats. It will help to improve
the water quality and effluents produced from treatment can be reused for
agricultural and other purpose. This will also prevent the lake from being
contaminated.
5. Our
study shows that Najafgarh Jheel holds a large
population of Greater Flamingos, so the conversion of Jheel
into a protected flamingo park would help protect the population of Greater
Flamingos, along with other water birds and associated fauna and flora. This
would also help to increase the state’s revenue as it will increase tourism.
Table 1. Number of Greater
Flamingo censuses from May 2019 to February 2020.
Study Area |
Number of flock |
Flock range |
Adult |
Juvenile |
Total number |
Average population |
Najafgarh Jheel
Bird Sanctuary |
45 |
5 to 214 |
3238 ± 227 |
2974 ± 201 |
6212 |
621 ± 414 |
Basai Wetland |
20 |
13 to 49 |
313 ± 16 |
243 ± 14 |
556 |
55.6 ± 26 |
*± = standard deviation
For
figures & images - - click here
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