Impact of Human Imposed Pressure on Pheasants of Western Himalayas, Pakistan: Implication for Monitoring and Conservation.

Simple Summary: The Himalayan pheasants have many cultural, economic, and environmental values. Still, unfortunately, the species is under anthropogenic pressure and biological hazards, leading to a rapid decline in its population. The current study aims to identify the human pressures imposed by major infrastructure development projects, illegal hunting, deforestation, pollution, non-timber forest collections, and other natural activities that severely damage the pheasant habitat and population in the study area. Higher altitude valleys with less disturbed habitats have significantly higher encounter rates and densities than those at lower altitudes and higher human pressure. This research suggests that conservation biologists and the wildlife department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should formulate approaches for effective conservation and better habitat management. It may include public awareness regarding pheasant's beneficial aspects, pre-implementations of the wildlife management plan for a major infrastructure development project, and strict rules and policies around deforestation and habitat degradation. The study also recommends that the habitat of the pheasants, specifically the threatened area of Western Tragopan, be considered a legally reserved area of conservation to improve its conservation status. Pheasants play a distinctive and significant role in high altitudinal ecosystems. These are good indicators of environmental changes, and their presence determines the health and balance of the bio-network. Recent human pressure continues to degrade their populations, and some pheasant species are already extinct. Therefore, the current study focuses on pheasant abundance and emerging conservation issues. The pheasant population was assessed using "Call count methods" and analyzed by DISTANCE software. The results revealed that the valleys where human interference is minimum had significantly higher encounter rates and densities of pheasants. At the same time, the pheasant population was severely affected, whether found at lower or higher altitudes, showing seasonal migration toward human settlements. The habitat suitability modeling was performed using the MaxEnt model and showed that human activities overlap with the suitable natural habitats of pheasants. The threats were identified using a systematic questionnaire survey from the nearest villages of the potential habitat, and particular attention was paid to valleys where human pressures were found to be high. Major infrastructure development projects, illegal hunting, and deforestation were identified as the major threats to the pheasant population. The study concluded that proper conservation measures are required to protect pheasants in their potential habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]