Population survey and conservation assessment of the globally threatened cheer pheasant(Catreus wallichi) in Jhelum Valley, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan

作     者：Muhammad Naeem AWAN Hassan ALI David Charles LEE 

作者机构：WWF Pakistan Regional Office Azad Kashmir Muzaffarabad Pakistan WWF Pakistan Feroze Pur Road Lahore Pakistan School of Applied Sciences the University of South Wales Pontypridd UK 

出 版 物：《Zoological Research》 (动物学研究（英文）)

年 卷 期：2014年第35卷第4期

页      面：338-345页

核心收录：

学科分类：1002[医学-临床医学] 07[理学] 0713[理学-生态学] 

基　　金：This study was supported by the Rufford Small Grant Foundation (8213-1) Acknowledgments: Pheasant Association We are grateful to the World and IUCN/SSC/Galliformes Specialist group for the technical support provided during the project implementation. We are thankful to the State Wildlife and Fisheries Department for logistic support and to the Department's field staff for their help during the surveys. Prof. Z.B. Mirza kindly provided guidance during the fieldwork 

主　　题：巴基斯坦 山谷 人口调查 密度估计 雉 考核 养护 濒危物种 

摘      要：The cheer pheasant Catreus wallichi is a globally threatened species that inhabits the western Himalayas. Though it is well established that the species is threatened and its numbers declining, updated definitive estimates are lacking, so in 2011, we conducted a survey to assess the density, population size, and threats to the species in Jhelum valley, Azad Kashmir, which holds the largest known population of cheer pheasants in Pakistan. We conducted dawn call count surveys at 17 points clustered in three survey zones of the valley, 11 of which had earlier been used for a 2002-2003 survey of the birds. Over the course of our survey, 113 birds were recorded. Mean density of cheer pheasant in the valley was estimated at 11.8±6.47 pairs per km2, with significant differences in terms of both counts and estimated density of cheer were significantly different across the three survey zones, with the highest in the Chinari region and the lowest, that is the area with no recorded sightings of the pheasants, in Gari Doppata. The total breeding population of cheer pheasants is estimated to be some 2 490 pairs, though this does not consider the actual area of occupancy in the study area. On the whole, more cheer pheasants were recorded in this survey than from the same points in 2002-2003, indicating some success in population growth. Unfortunately, increasing human settlement, fires, livestock grazing, hunting, and the collection of non-timber forest products continue to threaten the population of cheer in the Jhelum valley. To mitigate these potential impacts, some degree of site protection should be required for the conservation of cheer pheasants in Pakistan, and more effective monitoring of the species is clearly needed.