Key Areas for the Conservation of Galliformes - NW India

In 2005, WPA and the Wildlife Institute of India began a landscape scale project in Uttaranchal to assess the status of the Galliformes and to enable a detailed management plan to be produced. 

Project commenced: 2005

Partners: WPA India and Wildlife Institute of India.

Pheasants, partridges and quail are among the most significant bird groups in Himalayan conservation. Habitat loss and poaching are believed to be the major factors responsible for the threatened status of several species. Developing realistic management proposals for these species and habitats that make the best use of limited resources is continually hampered by a lack of raw data. This is particularly apparent in the Indian state of Uttaranchal.

Uttaranchal state is home to 22 species of Galliformes including a number of threatened and endangered species, and thus is important for conservation across the Himalayan belt. WPA has been conduction surveys in northwest India for more than 25 years and has contributed to the establishment of protected areas. However WPA has also recognised that significant populations of pheasants are not protected within wildlife sanctuaries of national parks.

Key outcomes

  • a database on the distribution of Galliformes in Uttaranchal
  • the identification of areas of conservation significance for Galliformes
  • an evaluation of the role of the existing protected area network
  • conservation plans for key species and habitats
  • overall strategy for Uttaranchal's Galliformes

Key species

Himalayan quail Ophrysia superciliosa
Western tragopan Tragopan melanocephalus
Cheer pheasant Catreus wallichii
Himalayan monal Lophophorus impejanus
Koklass pheasant Pucrasia macrolopha
Black francolin Francolinus francolinus
Kalij pheasant Lophura leucomelanos


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