Mumbai, August 26: The rediscovery of the critically endangered Jerdons Courser, a ground bird found in scrub jungles, after many years has delighted wildlife activists and environmentalists, who feel that it is a big boost to their efforts to save the bird.
Two Jerdons Coursers were sighted by BNHS scientist Rahul Chavan and his local assistant Rahim in the core area of Sri Lankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary in Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh on the morning of August 6, 2009.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden at Hyderabad, Hitesh Malhotra said, “this excellent news is very reassuring. We all need to increase efforts for the protection of Jerdons Courser with renewed vigour.”
The sighting of this rare nocturnal (active during the night time) bird has come as a major boost to the conservation efforts of this near-extinct species, BNHS said.
“It is a big boost to our conservation efforts, particularly to add some land to the Sanctuary, which the proponent of the Telugu Ganga Canal had promised,” BNHS Director, Dr Asad Rahmani said.
BNHS has been conducting field research on Jerdons Courser for the past years to help conserve the species, in collaboration with UK-based Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Andhra Pradesh Forest Department, University of Cambridge and University of Reading, funded by Darwin Initiative. .
—Agencies