Dehradun: As many as 95 species of birds were registered by the Mussoorie forest division during an estimation exercise — carried out biannually in May and December — on Saturday.
The estimation exercise — carried out by four teams comprising bird watchers, experts and forest employees under the guidance of additional principal chief conservator of forests Dhananjai Mohan — enumerated species such as KalijPhesant, Longtail, Great Barbet, Black Bird, among others.
One team covered trail of Company Garden, Hathipaon, Dhobi Ghat; the second covered Company Garden, Kandi Lodge to Dhobi Ghat; third team worked on Dhobi Ghat, Binog Top to Andheri, while the focus of the fourth was on Masrana, Kimoi and Bata Ghat.
Mohan said, “The bird estimation is being conducted in Binog Wildlife Sanctuary for the past three years. I am happy that the region continues to have same species year after year, which means the area has rich biodiversity.”
“Birds are indicator of the health of ecosystem, and the estimation will help analyse climate change over the years,” he said.
Divisional forest official SaketBadola said, “There is no significant increase or decrease in the number of bird species in the past three years. However, the comparative data of the next 10 years will give much more details on many aspects of biodiversity.”
