Assam Waterfowl census: Kaziranga records growth while Pabitora sees a declineGuwahati: The annual survey of birds in Assam for the season 2020-2021 ended on Sunday and it revealed that the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) has seen a massive growth in the number of bird count whereas Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, also known as ‘Mini Kaziranga’, has declined in number since the last season.
Both of the two parks are the greatest wetland in Assam. The Kaziranga National Park has recorded 93,491 birds in the wetland, which is 59,207 more than 2020.
The 93,492 birds from 22 families belonging to 112 species is one of the highest that the park has recorded so far.
Highest numbers of species (26) are from family Anatidae, which the family of Ducks and Geese. The top three species counted by number are Eurasian Coot, Bar-headed Geese and Common Teal. Of the 112 waterfowl species found in Kaizranga, 58 are migratory species visiting Kaziranga from different parts of the world including Europe, Central Asia and East Asia.
The major objective of the exercise was to record and estimate waterfowl and winter migratory birds and to monitor and assess the health of wetlands.
In order to carry out this census exercise, 52 wetlands across the Kaziranga Tiger Reserve were identified and 36 seasoned birders were involved in the exercise as enumerators.
During the second wetland bird count in 2020, the national park counted a total of 19,225 birds belonging to 96 species of 80 families.
However, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary has recorded 58 species of waterfowls which is six fewer than last year, where the sanctuary recorded 64 species during the second waterfowl census.
A total of 58 waterfowl species with more than 24,000 individuals were recorded this year; revealed survey. Meanwhile, 64 waterfowl species were recorded with more than 15,000 individuals in 2020.
The third waterfowl estimation for 2020-2021 began on Saturday morning (February 6) and concluded on Sunday (February 7).
The two day exercise was carried out by a total of 35 numbers of teams comprising of observers, enumerators, volunteers and media personal.
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