Decline in Red Fowl population

New Delhi, Aug 18 (UNI) The Red Fowl, ancestors of the domestic chicken, are today facing extinction on the basis of lesser sightings of the bird in its natural habitat, the government today said.

No scientific study on population estimate of Red jungle Fowl is available.

''However on the basis of lesser sightings of the bird in its natural habitat, a decline in its population appears to have taken place,'' Minister of State for Environment and Forests Namo Narain Meena said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Although he said the fowl is not in the endangered species list, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun has taken up a research project on the conservation of red Jungle Fowl with the objectives of assessing the status and distribution of Red Jungle Fowl in India, identification of pure Red Jungle Fowl population by molecular genetic studies and proposing a conservation action plan for the identified Red jungle Fowl polulations, the Minister said.

The fowl has a very wide distribution and is mainly found in the states of Andhra Pradesh(northern parts), Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhatisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu region, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Orissa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and West bengal.

The Minister said that there has been a loss of forests in southern parts of the country. He said the Southern states including the three Union territories have shown a loss of area under the dense forests as compared with 2001 assessment.

The loss is mainly due to encroachments, felling of trees etc.

The Minister said management measures like working of forests according to approved Working Plans, forest developments agencies and elciting people's participation, providing assistance to the state.

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