Newsletter / Blog
2011-06-07 Great Indian Bustard - Ardeotis nigriceps - is on the brink of extinction
The Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis nigriceps or Indian Bustard is found in India and certain parts of Pakistan.
It has been uplisted to Critically Endangered, the highest level of
threat. Hunting, disturbance, habitat loss and fragmentation have all
conspired to reduce this magnificent species to perhaps as few as 250
individuals.
Standing a metre in height and weighing in at nearly 15 kg, Great
Indian Bustard was once widespread across the grasslands of India and
Pakistan but is now restricted to small and isolated fragments of
remaining habitat.
“In an ever more crowded world, species that need lots of space, such
as the Great Indian Bustard, are losing out. However, we are the ones
who lose in the long run, as the services that nature provides us start
to disappear”, said Dr Leon Bennun, BirdLife’s Director of Science and
Policy.
This year’s update brings the total number of threatened bird species to 1,253, an alarming 12% of the world total.
“Birds provide a window on the rest of nature. They are very useful
indicators of ecosystem health: if they are faring badly, then so is
wildlife more generally”, said Dr Stuart Butchart, BirdLife’s Global
Research and Indicators Coordinator. “The changes we have documented in
this year’s update will feed into the Red List Index for birds, a
measure of trends in the state of the planet used by the world
governments, global businesses and the United Nations, among others”.
“In the space of a year another 13 bird species have moved into the
threatened categories”, said Jean-Christophe Vié, Deputy Director, IUCN
Global Species Programme. “This is a disturbing trend; however the
figure would be much worse if conservation initiatives were not in
place. The information collected by the BirdLife Partnership is crucial
in helping us to continue improving conservation efforts. This is now
more important than ever as the biodiversity crisis is already affecting
our wellbeing and will continue to do so unless we do more to stop it.”
“Birds are so intertwined with human culture all around the world
that they present a very visible picture of the state of nature. Good
examples abound of how we can save threatened birds. We need to redouble
our efforts to do so, otherwise we risk not just losing magnificent
creatures like the Great Indian Bustard, but unravelling the whole
fabric of our life-support systems”, said Dr Bennun.
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