Nicobar megapode in serious trouble, faces extinction

a bird species found only in the Nicobar Islands is in serious trouble. More than 70 per cent of the Nicobar megapode (Megapodius nicobariensis) -- a large-footed bird that build nests on the ground -- have disappeared over the last 12 years, says the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. Researchers surveyed the islands' wildlife after the 2004 tsunami and compared the findings with those of a 1993-1994 survey.

The researchers say that only 788 breeding pairs of megapodes are left in the coastal regions of the islands. The major reason for the sharp decline is the tsunami, which washed away the mounds (of soil and decomposed leaves) where megapodes nest. About 20 per cent believed to inhabit interior forests, were not affected by the tsunami. The researchers also found new mounds (barely an year old) in some parts of the region, which suggest that some birds were able to escape when the tsunami struck. On Nancowry island, the megapode population is endangered because of poachers from neighbouring countries and habitat destruction.

Besides megapodes, other species severely affected by the tsunami were the giant coconut crab, reticulated python, Malayan box turtle, coral reef, dugong and the crab-eating macaque. Plant species lost included seagrass beds, sea poison tree, Indian silver greywood and mangrove vegetation.

The survey says though tribal communities inhabiting the islands have traditionally hunted megapodes, the activity increased following the tsunami. After the tsunami submerged most of the low-lying coastal areas, megapodes built their mounds in evacuated villages, says K Sivkumar, who led the survey. But when the tribals started returning, they started hunting the megapodes.

The tsunami also washed away planted as well as wild coconut and destroyed arecanut trees. The administration is trying to restore the plantations but there is a "possibility that the plantations will encroach the majority of the potential coastal habitats of the Nicobar megapode and its associated species," warns Sivkumar.