Cabot’s tragopan  (Tragopan caboti)

With only a small, severely fragmented population, which is undergoing continuous decline due to heavy human pressure in south-east China, Cabot’s tragopan faces an uncertain future (4) (8). While numbers are believed to be relatively stable inside protected areas, they are declining elsewhere owing to ongoing habitat loss and modification (3). Most natural forest has been cleared as a result of demands for agricultural land, logging and mining, or modified by the progressive conversion of natural mixed forests to conifer plantations (4) (9). Direct persecution has also had a significant impact in the last century, with the pheasant being hunted for food, its plumage and for the bird trade (9). Illegal hunting for food still occurs in some regions, especially outside protected areas (4).

Cabot’s tragopan is legally protected in China, and appears in a number of protected areas (4) (7). Indeed, the recent rapid increase in the number of protected areas within the bird’s range is believed to have significantly benefited this species, through successfully preventing forest clearance and hunting (4) (7). For example, the logging of mature forest at Wuyanling was stopped when it was established as a nature reserve in 1975, and in 1987 many of the cleared areas within the reserve were replanted. 70 to 75 birds were hunted annually at Jinggang Shan in Jiangxi before the establishment of the nature reserve in 1982, at which time illegal hunting stopped (7). Even so, many of the reserves are relatively small and isolated, and may not contain large enough areas of suitable forest to support viable populations. A four-year project to intensively study Cabot’s tragopan, its biology and conservation is currently underway, and will hopefully provide important information to identify future conservation priorities (4).

Fortunately, Cabot’s tragopan thrives in captivity (8), and in the early 1990s there were an estimated 250 captive specimens worldwide (7). However, although captive-breeding has been successful, re-introductions into the wild is not a suitable solution until there is sufficient habitat to support an expanded population. Thus, conservation of the species’ habitat in the wild must remain the highest priority of those aiming to save this rare forest bird (7).