Pong Dam records 68% increase in Bar Headed Geese population
Due to extreme winters this year, a whopping increase of over 68% has been witnessed in the number of bar-headed goose, a migratory bird, at Pong wetland.
About Bar Headed Geese
- These are found in central China and Mongolia and they breed there.
The goose is the world’s highest altitude migratory bird species.
- The summer habitat is high-altitude lakes where the bird grazes on short grass
- They start migration to the Indian sub-continent during the winter and stay till the end of the season.
- They are one of the birds which can fly even at very high altitude. They come to India and return to their homes by crossing the Himalayan ranges – one of the most high-altitude migrations in the world.
- The capacity of bar-headed geese to transport and consume oxygen at high rates in hypoxic regions distinguishes this species from similar lowland waterfowl.
About Pong Dam Lake
- The Pong Dam Lake was constructed on Beas River in 1960;one of the largest man-made wetland in the foothills of the Himalayas in Kangra valley.
- It is a Bird Sanctuary and a Ramsar Site
- It is among the top 10 sites that attract a large number of migratory birds.
- Most of the Visiting birds migrate from their breeding places in the trans-Himalayan regions in Tibet, Central Asia, Russia and Siberia