Western Tragopan

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Relevance: Facing existential crisis, Western Tragopan sees a glimmer of hope in Himachal Pradesh for its survival - The Hindu

The Western tragopan (Tragopan melanocephalus) considered to be the rarest of all extant pheasants, is endemic to north-western Himalayas They are medium-sized montane pheasants with a high level of dimorphism displayed by the sexes (Johnsgard, 1986). The bird has long been associated with the cultural heritage of the locals and has been named “Jujurana” meaning the “King of Birds”. 

Taxonomy 

  1. Class: Aves 
  2. Order: Galliformes 
  3. Family: Phasianidae 
  4. Genus: Tragopan 
  5. Species: melanocephalus

Tragopans are a group of the five pheasant species belonging to the genus Tragopan Cuvier, 1829 (Phasianidae) with unresolved phylogeny.

Distribution: The species is endemic to the western Himalayas, occurring from Indus-Kohistan district, north Pakistan, east through Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh to Bhagirathi River in Uttarakhand, north-western India .  

Habitat: The species is a habitat specialist occurring in open moist deciduous and coniferous temperate forests with dense undergrowth at elevations of 2,400–3,600 m. They inhabit montane to sub-alpine areas with specific broadleaved (e.g., Aesculus indica, Acer sp. and Betula utilis) and coniferous (Cedrus deodara, Pinus wallichiana, Abies pindrow, Picea smithiana) vegetation.

Threats and conservation measures:

It is one of the four threatened members of the 11 bird species that are entirely restricted to the “Western Himalayas Endemic Bird Area” (Stattersfield et al., 1998). The species is threatened by habitat degradation and fragmentation through commercial exploitation activities like timber extraction, browsing of under storey shrubs by livestock, tree lopping, and fuel wood collection (Gaston et al., 1983; Jandrotia et al., 1995). Disturbance in the form of graziers and collectors of edible fungi and medicinal plants (Gaston and Garson, 1992; Pandey, 1993) have been reported to interfere with nesting. Further threats include, poaching for meat and ornamentation (Islam and Crawford, 1987; Chauhan and Sharma, 1991). 

The species is legally protected in both its range countries, India and Pakistan. It is protected under Schedule I, of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and in Third Schedule [SECTION 2 (n) and 9 (ii)] that lists Wild birds and animals protected throughout the year in the ‘Punjab Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Act, 1974’ of Pakistan. 

It is listed as “Vulnerable” by the IUCN (C2a (i) ver 3.1) and in Appendix I of CITES. It has been identified by the Central Zoo Authority, New Delhi for a planned and coordinated conservation breeding programme in Himachal Pradesh, with the long-term goal of future releases in the wild. 

Wildlife Institute of India (2016) National Studbook Western Tragopan (Tragopan melanocephalus)II Edition, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun and Central Zoo Authority, New Delhi. TR. No. 011-2015/ 38 

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