Saving the Greater Adjutant Stork by Changing Perceptions and Linking to Assamese Traditions in India

  • Dr. Purnima Devi Barman Aaranyak, Guwahati, Assam, India.
  • Dr. D.K. Sharma University of Science and Technology Meghalaya, Baridua, India.
  • Dr. John Cockrem School of Veterinary Science, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
  • Mamani Malakar Aaranyak, Guwahati, Assam, India.
  • Bibekananda Kakati Aaranyak, Guwahati, Assam, India.
  • Tracy Melvin Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.11.2.2020.1648
Keywords: Women’s Leadership, Conservation Programs, Community Development, Ethno-ornithology

Abstract

The Greater Adjutant Stork (Leptoptilos dubius), locally known as Hargila (the bone swallower) is an endangered bird with an estimated global population of less than 1200. Habitat loss, poisoning, and poaching have caused large declines in populations of this stork in South Asia, with the Brahmaputra valley in Assam in northeastern India now the last stronghold for the species. The stork nests colonially in privately owned trees within thickly populated villages. Tree owners would cut down trees to prevent rotten food and excreta of this carnivorous bird from falling into their backyards. A change in attitudes of the nest-tree owners towards keeping their trees and towards Greater Adjutants has been the key to stork conservation. A conservation project involving community development, education and outreach, interlinking storks with local traditions and cultures, and capacity building of local communities was initiated in 2007. A rural women's conservation group named the Hargila Army was instituted and strong feelings of pride and ownership for the storks by the villagers have been generated. Cash incentives for nest protection were deliberately avoided, with schemes that indirectly contribute to the livelihoods of nest-tree owners and other villagers introduced instead. The success of the conservation program is shown by the increase in the number of nesting colonies in the village area of Dadara, Pachariya, and Singimari in Kamrup District in Assam from 28 nests in 2007–08 to 208 nests in the 2019–20 breeding season, making this the largest breeding colony of Greater Adjutant Storks in the world.

Author Biographies

Dr. Purnima Devi Barman, Aaranyak, Guwahati, Assam, India.

Dr. Purnima Devi Barman has initiated and driven the innovative and successful conservation program for the Greater Adjutant Stork in Assam. She has won national and international awards for her work.

Dr. D.K. Sharma, University of Science and Technology Meghalaya, Baridua, India.

Dr. D.K. Sharma is a Professor in the Department of Zoology at the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya. He has contributed to the Greater Adjutant Stork conservation program.

 

Dr. John Cockrem, School of Veterinary Science, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Dr. John Cockrem, a Professor in the School of Veterinary Science at Massey University, is an ornithologist with experience with a wide range of species of birds. His current work in New Zealand involves collaborations with Māori and with community groups to conduct conservation studies of penguins.

Mamani Malakar, Aaranyak, Guwahati, Assam, India.

Mamani Malakar works with villagers for the conservation of the Greater Adjutant Stork in the colony in the Kamrup District of Assam.

Bibekananda Kakati, Aaranyak, Guwahati, Assam, India.

Bibekananda Kakati works with villagers for the conservation of the Greater Adjutant Stork in the colony in the Kamrup District of Assam.

Tracy Melvin, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA.

Tracy Melvin is a PhD student in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University. She studies stewarding global biodiversity in cases of climate-induced ecological transformation.

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Published
2020-12-04
How to Cite
Barman, P. D., Sharma, D. K., Cockrem, J. F., Malakar, M., Kakati, B., & Melvin, T. (2020). Saving the Greater Adjutant Stork by Changing Perceptions and Linking to Assamese Traditions in India. Ethnobiology Letters, 11(2), 20-29. https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.11.2.2020.1648
Issue
Vol 11 No 2 (2020)
Section
Perspectives

Copyright (c) 2020 Purnima Devi Barman, D. K. Sharma, John F. Cockrem, Mamani Malakar, Bibekananda Kakati, Tracy Melvin

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