The Partridge is one of the rare species of ground-dwelling bird, it belongs to the Pheasant family, which is a non-migratory bird and is also known as the national bird in Pakistan.
Partridge is found in Central Asian countries including Pakistan and Afghanistan. In addition to the province of Balochistan, Partridge has been found for centuries in the upper mountainous areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Partridge makes it altitudes about 2,000 to 4,000 meters above from the sea level and makes their nest in the grass and shrubs. Due to the rapid climate change in Pakistan, the species of this rare bird is endangered of extinction.
In the last thirty years, the species of this rare bird has been declining rapidly and now after the drought in Baluchistan, the number of Partdrge bird is in coming down considerably in the upper areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Haji Mohammad Afzal, an 80 years old man from a remote mountainous area in the upper Malakand district says “When they used to cultivate wheat in their fields, they used to guard their crops every morning to protect them from the Partridge birds. The birds came in groups of fifty to two hundred birds in the shape of flocks and the fields were made barren, but now with the passage time, the number of Partridge Bird has dwindled to such an extent, the sound of a half birds is occasionally heard or occasionally seen throughout the month” Haji Afzal added.
He mentioned the Partridge Bird with tears in his eyes and said,“Whenever we hear the sound of the Partridge so it reminds us of our childhood and youth, now we don’t see the same groups of birds and other animals in the mountains here, the birds and animals have stopped going to human settlements.”
Talking to a Partridge hunter from a mountainous area of Malakand, Zair Wali Khan, said, “Every year in mid-January, we start trapping of male Partridge and each hunter traps 10 to 15 male Partridges in every season, thus when the female bird lays eggs in May than with the help of female Partridge we trap the male Partridge with a female.
When we asked regarding the declining number of Partridge, Mr Khan added, “the reason for the decline in the number of Partridge is not hunting because one female Partridge lays fifteen to twenty eggs at a time and if she continues to grow at the same rate, her breed will never end. The main reason for the decline in the breed is climate change and habitat change.
He added, “Partridge builds its nest on the ground and the carnivorous bird’s falcon finds its nest easily and eats its eggs, which ends fifteen to twenty cubs at a time, due to which its breed is gradually declining. Partridge bird makes its nest at the ground and due to lack of forests other carnivores animals and foxes also easily find it nest in mountains.
Talking to Syed Ghufran, Range Officer Wildlife Department Malakand, he said, “The Wildlife Department is doing its best to save the Partridge breed from extinction in Pakhtunkhwa. Hunting is strictly banned and to increase its breed last year the wildlife department released hundreds of pairs of Partridges in the Malakand mountains which grew up in Safari parks. He said that changing in its habitants, illegal hunting and deforestation is causing the decline of this rare bird. The Wildlife Department is making every effort to breed this rare bird in various safari parks to save it from extinction.
Syed Ghufran added that legal hunting of Partridges is allowed every year only for three months from November to January and a licensed hunter can hunt only five birds a day in small game areas, but since Partridge bird are mostly living In remote mountainous areas, therefore, poaching is also a major cause of their genocide. If the government of Pakistan legally bans pellet guns and allow only air guns for hunting, it may reduce its genocide. At present, Partridges are found in large numbers in the mountains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but over the past three decades, their breeding activity has declined. The department is setting up breeding centres in safari parks to increase its breeding so that this rare bird species can be saved from extinction.