Spot-billed pelicans

Subject – Environment

Context – Spot billed pelicans dying enmasse in Andhra Pradesh

Concept –

The spot-billed pelican (Pelecanusphilippensis) or grey pelican is a member of the pelican family.
It breeds in southern Asia from southern Iran across India east to Indonesia.
- The species is found to breed only in peninsular India, Sri Lanka and in Cambodia.
- In the non-breeding season they are recorded in Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.
It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially large lakes.
Estimates suggest that increased protection has since enabled a recovery in their numbers and the status of the species was changed from vulnerable to near threatened in the 2007 IUCN Red List.
Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule IV (Hunting prohibited but the penalty for any violation is less compared to the first two schedules).
The spot-billed pelican is capable of hunting huge fish from the water bodies and swamps and thus, it is vulnerable to infestation.

Reasons for their death –

Preliminary inquiry suggests that nematode infestation is the cause for the death of the spot-billed pelicans that preys on nearby water bodies. The nematode parasite is suspected to be transferred through fish and snails in particular, when the birds prey in the aqua ponds.
The nematode infestation would not spread from one species to another species.