With the presence of 1,168 bird species recorded in the country, India has been ranked 9th in the global list of bird wealth.

While a majority of Indian species belonged to the Least Concerned category indicating that they were relatively safe from threats, the country was ranked 6th in terms of globally threatened species.

Government Tells Assembly That Birds’ Numbers Dropped By 25%

Ahmedabad: Vulture population in Gujarat has dropped to a new low of 1,065 during the last five years. The count recorded in 2007 was 2,539 and ever since then, a sharp decline is seen. The count further dropped to 1,431 in 2008 and the May 2010 count showed that there are just 1,065 vultures in the state. The state government in a reply to a question posed by Karjan MLA Chandu Dabhi said that the vulture count in May 2010 was 1,065,

Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh’s much-favoured Project Cheetah is in doldrums.

The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) sanctioned `25 lakhs for a feasibility study conducted by chairman of the Wildlife Trust of India Dr M.K. Ranjisinh and wildlife biologist Dr Y.V. Jhala. Three sites in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan were selected as proposed homes of the cheetahs. Mr Ramesh even visited South Africa in 2010 and claimed on his return that within a period of three years, cheetahs would be relocated from South Africa to India.

AJMER: The forest department has on its hands the task of finding the number of remaining Great Indian Bustard (GIB), the state bird, to chalk out a conservation plan for them. The census will be carried out on February 14 to know the area and number of birds in Ajmer, Baran and Jaisalmer divisions. At present, the bird, which is found only in the Indian subcontinent, is included in the endangered species list.

Concern over decline of Rajasthan's State bird population

The critically-endangered grassland species, the Great Indian Bustard, will be counted in the desert terrain of Rajasthan in the second week of February. Rajasthan, specially its desert region, accounts for maximum population of the bird which is globally threatened and listed in the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

JAIPUR: The World Bank and the Union government will help the state government to set up the international-level training centre for forest staff and tiger conservationists in Jaipur district.

A meeting in this regard was held on Tuesday, attended by the officials of World Bank, state government and wildlife experts.

According to forest minister Ramlal Jat, "The centre would be conducting re