Greater Adjutant stork population improves, but many fall prey to poison in food and water

Community conservation efforts in recent years have resulted in an increase in the population of the greater adjutant storks (Leptoptilos dubius), locally known as garuda, in Bhagalpur district in Bihar.

In the last two decades, with active involvement of the local community and the forest department, the population of greater adjutant storks in Bhagalpur has increased from 78 in 2006-’07 to more than 600 in 2023-’24, confirmed officials from the state forest department and Arvind Mishra, a local bird expert and Bihar’s state coordinator of Indian Bird Conservation Network.

Mishra had spotted 18 nests of the greater adjutant stork in 2006-’07. He notes that this number has increased to 125 during the breeding season of 2024. In fact, nesting sites have been spreading outside Bhagalpur to Purnea, Khagaria and Madhepura districts.

The global population of greater adjutant storks is now estimated to be roughly 1,360-1,510. In 2006, it stood at 650-800 individuals, according to data from Wetlands International. The greater adjutant is listed as “near threatened” as in the IUCN redlist. It was downlisted last year from the “endangered” category and the population is ‘increasing’ according to the IUCN.

Bhagalpur’s Kadwa Diara floodplains, in the riverine belt of the Koshi river, and neighbouring areas constitute the third-most popular breeding region for...

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