Lesser Florican at risk of becoming extinct, says report
Once found in abundance, the Lesser Florican (sypheotides indicus), the smallest bustard , is in real danger of becoming extinct from the India with just 264 of them enumerated in the four states where they are usually found, down from 3,500 in 2000, according to a comprehensive survey of their main habitats by the forest departments of these states, a government run institute and two non-government organisations. The bird is endemic to India. Lesser Florican is one of the four bustard species of India, all of which are threatened under the International Union for the Conversation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, the world’s biggest inventory of the conservation status of biological species.
Lesser Floricans are a bird watcher’s delight and during their mating season, which starts with the onset of the monsoon, the male acquires spectacular breeding plumage and jumps as high as two meters, emitting a frog-like rattle that can be heard 300-400 meters away.
Observations have shown that the male can jump 500-600 times a day during the height of the breeding season, said the report of the survey conducted between July-September 2017 by Dehradun based Wildlife Institute of India under its endangered species recovery programme along with Bombay Natural History Society (BHNS), Corbett Foundation and the forest departments of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
BHOPAL: