more-in A forest fire on the Chembra peak, under the Meppadi forest range of the South Wayanad forest division, has destroyed the habitat of one of the most endangered and unique song birds of Western Ghats. The district’s camel’s hump mountain range is the single largest habitat of the recently discovered bird species, the Banasura chilappan (Montecincla jerdoni). Distribution of the species is confined to two major mountain tops of Wayanad — the camel’s hump mountains and the Banasura mountains. “The bird is seen only in forests above 17,00 metres and so the total area available for the species is less than 50 sq km. There are only 500 pairs of the birds species in the mountains,” says C. K Vishnudas, conservation biologist, National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru. The fire has devastated the entire mountain grassland and shola edges up to 1,800 metres. “The fire has discharged huge volumes of dust particles into atmosphere and it is feared that it will change the local micro-climate,” Mr. Vishnudas said. “The fire was spotted on Saturday evening. It destroyed more than 60 hectares of grassland. The fire is under control now,” a senior Forest Department official said.

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