Specialists in wildlife and environments have warned of significant risks to rare species of birds in Sudan because of wildlife crimes and the continuous erosion of forests, where there are over 600 species of birds, almost half of which have permanently habitat in Sudan and the other half come as migrants from Europe and Asia in search of food and warmth.
Sudan’s great climatic and environmental diversity provides suitable living conditions for many rare breeds and species of birds such as weaves, sad doves, African waterfowl, crow of Albin, African chin, Nubian woodpecker and ostriches, as well as hoopoe and starlings that are present in large numbers.
According to Dhawi Moussa, a professor at the University of Khartoum, Sudan is unique in having several rare bird breeds that have long been helping to conserve biodiversity. But Moussa told Sky News Arabia that the recent period has seen the disappearance of some rare breeds and a significant decline in the number of birds in other breeds, mainly because of the great contradiction in forest areas besides hunting sport and wildlife crimes.
In fact, Sudan’s forests have been subjected to significant erosion over the past three decades because of natural causes and others because of unjust and unregulated felling. According to data, Sudan’s forest area has fallen from 60 percent to less than 10 percent of the country’s area at the moment.
In this context, Mohammed Al-Mekki, Dean of the Faculty of Natural Resources at Sinnar University in central Sudan, points to the significant negative effects of shrinking forest areas.
Al-Makki explained to Sky News Arabia that vegetation and forest cover are of great importance in preserving bird breeds and increasing their numbers. Al-Makki does not rule out the significant impact of climate change on Sudanese bird breeds.
“It is difficult to identify endangered bird species because of the lack of accurate data, but recent studies have confirmed that climate change and drought have led to the disappearance or threat of important species of birds such as squatting and rahu, as well as some falcons such as peregrine and markhma.
Other birds, such as the lunar safari and houbari of all kinds, are under fierce attack from hunters from inside and outside Sudan because of their high nutritional value and the belief that some of them help strengthen men’s sexual capacity.
Climate change and rising temperatures have also affected many rare breeds living in the Red Sea in the country’s east, such as seagulls and jokes.
