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The
Protected Areas of Bhutan
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Bhutan's
National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries and Nature Reserves
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| Bomdeling
Wildlife Sanctuary |
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Rehabilitating
the roosting ground |
The Bomdeling
wildlife park officials in Trashiyangtse are waiting for the
last of the rains to go away so that they can start rehabilitating the
roosting grounds of the Black necked cranes.
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The
Black necked crane roosting area in Bomdeling valley >
The
endangered cranes descend to the Bomdeling valley from the high Tibetan
plateau in November and roost along the banks of the Kholongchu riverbank
for the next three months. The Kholongchu riverbank covered with
white wet sand has shallow and marshy areas of water which the cranes prefer.
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But
the constantly changing course of the Kholongchu which has been flooding
quite regularly for the past several years is affecting the roosting areas.
"It might, in time, change the roosting place of the cranes permanently,"
said the park ranger, Phurba Lhendup. "We are going to dig a channel around
the roosting area and artificially create an island where they can roost
permanently every winter."
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Black
necked crane: Digging channels to prevent attacks of predators |
The
Bomdeling wildlife officials plan to start digging channels from the source
of the river to keep water flowing around the marshy island. The island
will also be a safe resting ground for the cranes that are constantly threatened
by the presence of their common predators like large weasels, yellow
fronted Marten, wild cats and packs of stray dogs. "These common predators
have an easy access to the roosting areas at present," said the park ranger.
"Having their habitat surrounded by the river on all sides will prevent
predators from getting in so easily."
In
1998 a crane was attacked and killed by a yellow fronted Marten. Last year
the park officers found tracks of the yellow fronted Marten on the roosting
areas. The most disturbing and annoying to the cranes are the local
stray dogs that constantly attack the resting cranes at night and chase
them off when they are feeding off the harvested paddy fields during the
day. "They are a nuisance to the birds," Phurba Lhendup said.
Apart
from the animals, even people are a constant irritation to the cranes as
they take short cuts made through the roosting areas. "With flash lights
in their hands, their footsteps and voices scares the cranes," said the
park manager. "Children playing in the fields during the day chase the
cranes with sticks and stones, which we fear could cause the cranes to
permanently abandon the place."
According
to the records maintained by the Bomdeling wildlife sanctuary, the number
of cranes coming into the valley has neither increased nor decreased since
1998 and they would like to keep it that way. "About 148 to 150 cranes
fly into the valley every year, a fluctuation by about four or five
only," said the park ranger. "The highest number was in 1992 when 178 cranes
flew in, it decreased to 144 in 1998."
The
decrease, he said, could be attributed to human encroachment into the bird's
roosting grounds. "More houses, schools and roads were built in Bomdeling
and Trashiyangtse were the cranes lost most parts of their habitat and
feeding grounds," Phurba Lhendup said. Meanwhile, the range officers in
Bomdeling spotted two Eurasian cranes among the black necked cranes last
year and once in 1998.
According
to Phurba Lhendup, these Eurasian cranes go to Tibet during the breeding
season in summer but lose their flock returning to Eurasia. "Unable to
find their group, they land up joining the Black necked cranes to Bomdeling."
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Animals in Bhutan
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