KING OF BIRDS

Revered for centuries, western tragopan now needs protection as its forests shrink, human pressures mount

- ASAD R RAHMANI

High in the western Himalayas, where oak and conifer forests climb into cold, cloud-draped ridges, lives the king of birds—or jujurana, as this pheasant is referred to and is revered by the people of Kullu-Manali valleys in Himachal Pradesh.

Also known as western tragopan, it is considered among the world’s rarest pheasants due to small and fragmented population, numbering only 2,500 to 3,500 individuals. Even this number is shrinking as forest loss, infrastructure development and human disturbance continue to nibble away at its fragile mountain habitat. It is listed as Vulnerable by BirdLife International and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).