Bird flu: Bar-headed geese worst hit in Pong wintering ground

BY VISHAL GULATI Pong Dam (Himachal Pradesh), Jan 10 : Nestled in the sylvan surroundings of the Kangra valley in Himachal Pradesh, the Pong Dam wetlands in the foothills of the Himalayas are normally agog with flapping of feathered guests each winter.
Its silvery green waters, verdant forests, shrubbery islands, grassy swamps and aquatic life make the reservoir a paradise for migratory birds.
But this winter, for the first time in recent decades, birds in the 307-square km Pong wetlands are hit by avian influenza H5N1. And the worst affected species is one of world’s highest-altitude fliers, the bar-headed goose, an endangered species that regularly descend in India.
The Pong wetlands, one of the largest man-made wetlands in northern India, have emerged as the preferred wintering ground of the bar-headed goose.
At the annual waterfowl estimation coordinated by the state wildlife wing in 2015, a staggering 71,800 bar-headed geese, probably half their numbers globally, were recorded in the Pong wetlands, an all-time high till date.
A total of 49,496 bar-headed geese were recorded in January 2020. Around 23,000 and 28,160 geese were recorded in 2009 and 2008, respectively.