Though the authorities at the on-going Conference of Parties meet have put up banners creating awareness about endangered sparrows, the week dedicated to biosafety ironically had no mention of it.
However, voicing the need to protect endangered Indian birds was P A Azeed, director of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, based in Tamil Nadu.
According to the Red Data Book of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), there are 47 critically endangered species in India, as on September 5, 2011. The Red list of 2012 was out on July 19 2012 at the Rio +20 Earth Summit. “The Indian species include the Indian Hornbill, Forest Owlet, Red-headed vulture, the Great Indian Bustard and many more. More than 16 species are endangered in silent valley. We now need to be more considerate about other species,” Azeez said.
Since its inception, 12 years ago, Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History has conducted more than 200 studies on birds and their habitats. “We have worked on rehabilitating vultures, and have now seen an increase,” said Azeez.