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Spotlight on conservation of the wild red jungle fowl

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

NEW DELHI: While the domesticated poultry battles the avian flu amid much global attention, the "original chicken'' - the wild red jungle fowl -- is practically counting its days before being pushed off the cliff to extinction.

With prominent scientists of the opinion that the true red jungle fowl is endangered and may be extinct in many areas with many being replaced by genetically mixed jungle fowls, voices of concern and apprehension about the fate of this wild fowl are being raised by researchers the world over.

With some literature indicating that the pure red jungle fowl had been extinct in Malaysia since the early 1900s, the main cause for the disappearance of this spectacular fowl is known to be inter-breeding and the destruction of the natural habitat.

And in the first comprehensive project in India to understand the extent of genetic contamination, morphology and its distribution in the wild, the Wildlife Trust Of India (WTI) in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehra Dun, and MLN College, Yamunanagar, has initiated a three-year project to study the wild red jungle fowl.

The project will encompass mapping of the prospective areas where the bird is believed to be in higher density and morphology and DNA samples will be studied to understand their purity and patterns so that a viable model approach for their conservation could be established.

Eminent bird expert and Director of the Wild Species Programme of WTI Rahul Kaul says: "The status of the pure jungle fowl may be severely threatened to the extent that there may be no genetically pure species left in the wild today, except for a small population outside the country.''

According to him, repeated hybridisation with the domesticated version found near villages in the fringe forests might have passed the hybrid genes into the wild populations. In the wild, the red jungle fowl are found associated with Sal forests and cultivated lands up to an elevation of 2,000 metres. They usually avoid dense forest canopies and prefer to be in the sun-drenched territories where there is an abundance of grains, seeds and insects to feed. The species are found in parts of Northern, Central and North-eastern India. Another variety, the grey jungle fowl, is predominantly found in South India.

One distinctive trait of a jungle fowl is the presence of an eclipse moult in males and lack of comb in females which is considered most reliable for identification, though other physical characteristics such as structure and colour of legs, carriage of tail, spur length in males may be less reliable.

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