Birds & butterflies in an urban landscape

A few days ago, a Royal Bengal tiger paid a visit to the Umananda Temple in the heart of the Brahmaputra in Guwahati. In the last few days, there have been a number of stories in the media about the arrival of a large number of birds in at least two wetlands in Guwahati. While the Saturday edition of this newspaper, in a front-page news story mentioned the presence of about 26,000 birds of 97 species in Deepor Beel, a news story carried by some other media referred to the arrival of a large number of birds at the Silsako Beel. A news item in May last year referred to the publication of Guwahati's first bird atlas, according to which the city had recorded as many as 581 bird species. It is worth remembering that the "urban jungle" that Guwahati is rapidly becoming, still has 334 wildlife species. Guwahati has at least two reserved forests in and around it, as also one Ramsar Site and bird sanctuary, while the Brahmaputra is in itself home to a wide variety of underwater species. Guwahati is also home to 249 butterfly species, and all these despite the increasing shrinkage of greenery as also increasingly poor quality of air and water here. The Gauhati University campus is home to at least 140 butterfly species, while the IIT Guwahati campus has 54 butterfly species. Cotton University on the other hand has reported the presence of at least 39 butterfly species. But then, given the fact that Guwahati city, which currently has an area of 328 sq km, and which has 8 hills beside the Brahmaputra river flowing past its northern edge, should have had more wildlife species, birds, butterflies and other faunal species. That there has been a rapid loss of natural habitat in the city is also evident from the fact that sparrows are being compelled to take shelter in small trees on GS Road and other areas. The chirping of birds of different species in the few trees in the LGBI Airport during sunset is another indicator that the space for birds, butterflies and animals is rapidly shrinking in Guwahati. One study recently cited has indicated that while there has been a 44 per cent decrease in dense forest cover in Guwahati between 1976 and 2018, moderately dense forest has decreased by 43 per cent in the same period. This is not a good indicator of the health of Guwahati.