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A five-day Bugun Liocichla Utsav is being organized at Eaglenest wildlife sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh. The festival was held to commemorate 15 years of the bird’s discovery.
About Bugun Liocichla
Bugun liocichla (Liocichla bugunorum) is a bird species. It was first spotted in 1995 in Arunachal Pradesh.
However, the bird was first described in 2006 after being discovered in Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh by an astrophysicist, Ramana Athreya.
Conservation status:
IUCN: Critically Endangered.
Named After: The bird has been named in honour of the efforts of the Bugun community of Singchung village in West Kameng district in conserving the wildlife and forest of the area.
Significance: Bugun liocichla was the first bird discovered since India’s Independence.
Habitat: The bird occupies a 3-4 square kilometre area in the temperate forest within the traditional lands of Singchung village in Arunachal Pradesh. It is mostly seen in select pockets of Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary and Singchung Bugun Village Community Reserve (SBVCR). There are only 14-20 such birds in the state.
Note: SBVCR won the India Biodiversity Award 2018 in the ‘Conservation of wildlife species’ category for its efforts to conserve Bugun Liocichla.
