Guwahati: State bird of Assam – the white-winged wood duck is in danger of going extinct because of climate change, claimed researchers in a study.
The white-winged wood duck is commonly referred to as Deo Hah in Assam.
Other manmade factors, besides climate change, could also cause the Assamese state bird to go extinct.
The study estimates that in the next 50 years, the habitat of the state bird of Assam could lose at least 436.61 square kilometres.
The analysis said that changes in the annual temperature range will be the key variables to cause a significant loss of high potential habitats.
In Assam, a decline in the white-winged wood duck population has already been noted.
The decline in population of the bird has been attributed mainly to the loss of forest cover, especially near water bodies, the report stated.
“Tropical forests support the population of the white winged wood duck. It is projected that climate change will have a significant impact on tropical forest ecosystems around the globe. Under the influence of global climate change, a major portion of the natural habitat of the WWWD is likely to be lost by 2050 and 2070,” said the study.
Notably, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Manipur account for more over half of the white-winged wood duck’s worldwide population.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed it as an endangered species in 1994.
The white winged wood duck or the Deo Hah was declared as the state bird of Assam in 2003.