Vulnerable Species
Wandering Albatross:
About– They belong to the family “Diomedeidae”, are large seabirds. The Wandering Albatross have the longest wingspans(195 to 335cm) of any extant birds. Albatrosses are ‘carnivores’ in their food choice.
Conservation Status: Of the 22 known species of Albatross, all but one of them has been listed as at some level of concern by the BirdLife Red List team.
- IUCN status of Wandering Albatross – Vulnerable.
Range: They are found widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific. They are absent from the North Atlantic.
Characteristics:
- Their life span is more than 70 years.
- When courting, Albatross perform mating dances.
- Albatrosses can cover 16,000 kilometres in a single foraging trip. Also, they can travel almost 1,000 km per day without flapping their wings.
Threat– Today, 15 of the world’s 22 albatross species are on the brink of extinction. Numbers of albatrosses have declined in the past due to-
- harvesting for feathers.
- introduced species, like rats and feral cats that attack eggs, chicks, and nesting adults.
- By pollution and serious decline in fish stocks in many regions largely due to overfishing.
- Longline fishing-It poses the greatest threat, as feeding birds are attracted to the bait, become hooked on the lines, and drown.
Conservation Initiatives: In 2005, BirdLife and the UK’s RSPB jointly launched the Albatross Task Force, working alongside governments, communities and fishers to prevent accidental seabird ‘bycatch’.
Least Concern
Black-and-orange Flycatcher(Ficedula nigrorufa) and Nilgiri Flycatcher (Eumyias albicaudatus)
About- These are tiny, brightly-colored flycatcher bird. These are monotypic species endemic to the southern Western Ghats and confined to higher elevations.
Conservation Status: Both the flycatchers are listed as “Least concern” in IUCN Red list.
Habitat:
- BOF prefers the leaf-litter, understorey of shola forests, especially among the stunted evergreen forest patches in the sky islands of Western Ghats.
- The NIF is also found above 600 m elevation but more frequently above 1200 m.
Characteristics:
- Food Habits– In addition to typical “flycatching,” it also forages on the ground and in dense undergrowth.
Threats-The study has found that these two species could suffer a loss of 31% and 46% of their range respectively by 2050 due to climate change.
- Moreover, about 75% of the currently suitable areas of both these species lie outside the protected area network in the Western Ghats.
Near Threatened species
Kaiser-i-Hind(Arunachal’s State butterfly):
About– Arunachal Pradesh has approved “Kaiser-i-Hind”(Teinopalpus imperialis) as the State butterfly.
- The literal meaning of its name is ‘The Emperor of India’. It has shining patches of greens, yellows and blacks.
Conservation Status:
- IUCN– Near Threatened.
- Indian Wildlife Protection Act,1972– Schedule-II(Part II).
- CITES– Appendix II.
Habitat:
- Indian habitat– It is found along the Eastern Himalayas (West Bengal, Meghalaya, Assam, Sikkim and Manipur) in India. In these areas, it occurs at medium and higher elevations from 6000 to 10,000 feet in well-wooded terrain.
- Global habitat– The butterfly is also found in Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and southern China.
Characteristics- It usually flies at tree-top level but when there is strong morning sunlight it descends to sit on low vegetation. ‘April to July’ is the period when it is in flight. Its eggs are laid on the underside of leaves.
Threat- It is hunted to be supplied to butterfly collectors.
