The state forest department and the wildlife wing have done little to save endangered and threatened species in AP, according to conservationists.

New Delhi: They may disappear even before we get to know them. Four Indian species feature in a list of the ‘100 most threatened’ species in the world.

Great Indian Bustard, White-bellied Heron on the brink

The White-bellied Heron, the Great Indian Bustard, the Peacock Tarantula and the Spoon-billed Sandpiper of India are among the 100 most threatened species of the planet and “closest to extinction.” The Javan Rhino and Sumatran Rhino — considered extinct in India — are also present in the list compiled by scientists of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).The list was released by the Zoological Society of London and the IUCN at the World Conservation Congress being held in the Republic of Korea.

THE CENTRE has finally asked the bustard range states to prepare species recovery action plans for the three critically endangered birds following its guidelines.

With the conservation effort in India still tiger-centric, the threatened birds need

Right at the start, this book sets the argument in motion by rapping the conservation effort in the country across the knuckles. Most of the action, it notes, is tiger-centric, with little attention paid to other taxa. Threatened Birds of India is a fine example of worldwide collaboration among organisations and individuals with contributions from hundreds of ornithologists, field biologists, avid birders and wildlife photographers, making it a comprehensive collection on the threatened birds of India and their conservation requirements.

The objectives of the species recovery action plan are: To augment the populations of Great Indian Bustard, Lesser Florican and Bengal Florican to a minimum viable population in order to remove the three species from the list of Critically Endangered Species; To improve the habitat range of the Great Indian Bustard, Lesser Florican and Bengal F

The Red list of threatened species, prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has listed 132 species of plants and animals as Critically Endangered, the most threatened category, from India.

Plants seemed to be the most threatened life form with 60 species being listed as Critically Endangered and 141 as Endangered. The Critically Endangered list included 18 species of amphibians, 14 fishes and 10 mammals.

Changes in land use/land cover are a major driver of biodiversity change in the Mediterranean region. Understanding how animal populations respond to these landscape changes often requires using landscape mosaics as the unit of investigation, but few previous studies have measured both response and explanatory variables at the land mosaic level.

Union minister of state for forests Jayanthi Natarajan on Wednesday announced a recovery programme for saving critically endangered species and their habitats.

Under the initiative, 16 species have been identified for support. This includes snow leopard, bustards (including floricans), dolphin, hangul, Nilgiri tahr, marine turtles, dugongs and coral reefs, edible nest swiftlet, Asian wild buffalo, Nicobar megapode, Manipur brow-antlered deer, vultures, Malabar civet, Indian rhinoceros, asiatic lion, swamp deer and jerdon’s courser.

With the presence of 1,168 bird species recorded in the country, India has been ranked 9th in the global list of bird wealth.

While a majority of Indian species belonged to the Least Concerned category indicating that they were relatively safe from threats, the country was ranked 6th in terms of globally threatened species.

Pages