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Wondrous babbler

A small, previously unknown bird found in a degraded mid-altitude forest patch in Arunachal Pradesh is being hailed internationally as the first new bird species discovered in India in nearly half a century. The Bugun liocichla (known zoologically as Liocichla bugunorum), a black-capped babbler with olive, yellow, crimson, and white feathers, was found by Ramana Athreya of the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune and his team in Lama camp near the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in western Arunachal. The find is all the more thrilling because the professional astronomer could confirm his sighting and examine a specimen only a full decade after he first came upon the bird. Happily, this bird named after the Bugun tribe (in whose land it was found) has enriched the spectacular range of recorded avian fauna that attracts ornithologists and bird watchers to this part of the world. It demonstrates what scientists have long believed, namely that the Indo-Malayan ecosystems are magical biodiversity hotspots on a par with Amazonian rainforests. Birdlife International, the global agency monitoring the state of birds, has acclaimed the Indian astronomer's find as a sensational discovery. However, there is cause for worry because only 14 individuals were found in the area of study, a degraded patch of forests.

The discovery of the Bugun liocichla nearly half a century after Ripley first documented the rusty-throated wren babbler in Arunachal Pradesh is significant for preparing a more comprehensive account of life on earth. The naturalist, Edward O. Wilson, has been campaigning tirelessly to accelerate the documentation of biodiversity and halt the sixth great extinction in progress. Unsustainable economic activity is liquidating natural treasures when only a small part of the world's biodiversity has been understood. A lamentable hostility in government towards wildlife scientists and independent research has come in the way of assessing the outcomes of conservation policies and adopting progressive measures. It is a great irony that while industry has been, more or less, freed from the `licence-permit raj,' research in forest areas continues to be governed by a system of arbitrary and capricious permissions. The Tiger Task Force 2005 and the recent National Forest Commission recognise this problem and call for a more welcoming approach to bona fide research. The wondrous Bugun babbler and the Arunachal macaque, a new species recorded by scientists of the Nature Conservation Foundation, are two typical examples of what may be lost forever if short-sighted governments keep forests closed to science.

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