The green Front of Iran alerts:

 

“ Iranian Pheasant on the edge of extinction “

The honored media;

One of the most beautiful kind of birds in Iran, the pheasant, still lives under the huge shadow of the guns of hunters, the extinction of this beautiful bird is lying in ambush for it in its residence (Forests in the north part of the country) and raspberry bushes which protect the chicks from hurts.

The Iranian pheasant, which is one of the most unmixed kinds of species in the world, includes the following subspecies:

(Genus : phosianus phrasant) (species : p.colchicus phrasant )

Talesh pheasant – Arasbaran pheasant – Sarakhs pheasant – Golestan pheasant.

The pheasants go to plantations and open spaces with a few trees for their feeding, which the best time for it is at the morning and evening. The chicks only eat insects in their first three weeks of lives but the main foodstuffs for the elder ones are the herbal stuffs such as corn beads and seeds, juicy fruits such as raspberry, the green parts of insects, worms and snails. In fact their habits changes by season. In mating season (spring) there are male and a number of females in each group. The female one makes a hole in the ground as her nest and lay 9 to 16 eggs in it. The color of egg is alive green with shades of brown, and dark spots on it, the period of laying eggs is about 20 days and the female pheasant lie on the eggs for 24 days.

The most frequent places for nesting are at wild raspberry bushes, forests with sort trees, groups, hedges and sometimes plantations. They reach puberty after one year and live about 10 years.

One of the most important reasons for their population decline is destruction of their environmental. Their forest environment is very important for them because of its immunity and also providing parts of their foodstuffs. Other reasons include: illegal hunting and using insecticides because by serious deduction of insects the chicks will die. Their natural enemies are: fax, jackal, sable, wild cat, and bear which play an important role in their population decline by eating their eggs.

Protective measures:

Hunting of this bird is illegal in all seasons and some of its important residences such as the national park of Golestan, the preserved area of central Alborz, Miankaleh, Samkandeh and Arasbaran is among the preserved areas.

Unfortunately the illegal hunting and destruction of its environment have exposed this species to a serious danger. The Green Front of Iran asks all compatriots and governmental organizations to take action for protecting the pheasant from extinction.

Published by the Green Front of Iran secretariat of the social informing program about biodiversity.