Certain birds of the tropical and sub-tropical climate are under threat. They generally live on ground or prefer to stay within the bushy forests. At night, they stay within the bushes or take rest on trees to avoid attack from predatory animals, whereas during day time, they move outside in search of their food.
Such birds are common peafowl, gray jungle fowl, red jungle fowl, common sand goose, black partridge, painted partridge, grey partridge, bustard quail, rain quail, common or grey quail and jungle bush quail, etc. These birds, like certain rodents, make their nests on the forest floors.
Particularly, the avifauna or land birds are now facing two types of hazards. First, the forests having dense undergrowth are gradually getting thin and bald due to massive felling of trees for mining operations and industries. Second, forest fire, which is very common during summer in the forests of Odisha, also kills these birds and their progeny. It is seen that the forested plains and hills catch fire thrice and more from February to June, which completely destroys the ground floras of the forests. The ground birds are omnivorous in nature. They feed on insects and herbs. The forest fire destroys herbs and insects both. So the population of these birds is going down very rapidly.
Not only do these ground birds suffer for destruction of forest lands for mining, industry and other human activities like shifting cultivation, but also the whole biological food chain of the region suffers most due to reduction of the ground flora and fauna. The predatory birds like eagle suffer most and their population too is getting reduced. There are various types of owls and nocturnal birds and animals, which face a lot of troubles for their existence because of scarcity of food and water. Similarly, there are also different types of rodents, reptiles and lizards, part of the food chains of the tropical and sub- tropical biosphere, which are also getting eliminated.
The ground birds like to stay within and around human habitations because of their safety from the predatory birds. They form nests from January to June and the newborns are made ready to catch and collect their foods from the wild.
Presently, the Supreme Court of India has come as a breather. It has pronounced a judgment saying that the animals have their rights to live like human beings and that no one can infringe upon that right.
National bird peacock (mayor) is under threat in forest divisions of Brahmapur circle. The bird is very familiar with our culture and also is mostly found in the peninsular India. These birds are generally protected only because of the religious sentiment. It finds its food in the green vegetable gardens, corn fields and newly sown ground nut and cereal fields for collection of foods. This species lays five eggs in a season. It covers the eggs on the ground with sticks, twigs and leafs, so that they remain concealed in bushy thickets, where no predatory animal including man can see them. Other ground birds which follow the same procedure to lay eggs during nesting season also adopt similar safety measures. However, nothing can be hidden to fire. Once a forest catches fire, it spreads far and wide and destroys not only the trees and undergrowths, but the eggs of the birds and rodents.
Unless the forests are saved from forest fires during this period, the animals and birds as well as the human forest dwellers cannot be saved.
Ganjam district comes under the peninsular region, which is very suitable for peafowl and other ground birds and herbivores, but without herbs, it is not possible for the herbivorous to exist. So all the herbivores like elephants, bovines and deer etc suffer much and the conflict between man and animal is growing at increasing rate because of drastic reduction of feeding ground of the animals and birds. Elephants are killed either for tusks or for conflict with manwhen the pachyderms come out in the open and destroy crops and houses in villages adjoining to forest lands. Recently, one elephant was killed in Hindol area in Dhenkanal by the smugglers of tusks.
Similarly, one female elephant between the common boundary of Keonjhar and Dhenkanal (in Telkoi) was wounded severely by man for the reasons not yet known. The very rich habitat of herbivores within the Anantpur reserve forest of Dhenkanal district and Kalpat forest areas of Keonjhar district have been destroyed causing threats to the animalsand birds.
A healthy biosphere sustains the flora, the undergrowth at the bottom storey as well as the vegetation in the middle and top- storey. Such forests are no longer seen in Odisha.
The writer has seen the luxuriant biosphere reserves of Similipal, Tikarpada or Satkishia region in Angul, Baula, Rebana – Kalapat forests in Keonjhar and forests of Nuapara. These forests are a far cry now. They have been destroyed because of rapid industrial growth and mining.
India ranks ninth in the global bird wealth where land birds form a majority of the avian population. The country is regularly visited by 460 species of migratory birds. This is possible because of rich sustainable ecosystems in the Indian territories. There are 1,094 species of land birds, 202 species of water birds and 50 species of sea birds, which from part of the rich avifauna of India. The critically endangered species are white bellied heron, great Indian bustard, spoon billed sand piper and Siberian crane. These are also in the list of globally threatened species. Unfortunately, there is no conservation measure for these birds in Odisha.
A main indicator of healthy environment of a peninsular forest is the ant hills. The Indian pangolin, which is locally known as Bajrakapta is very much famous for keeping a balance over termites and ants in the Chandaka forests. Such species are rarely seen these days.
Similarly, porcupine, another insectivore too has vanished from the forests, because of unsuitable habitats.
(The writer is a former senior forest officer and an environmentalist)