Fire threatens bird species in Jambi

JAMBI, Jambi: The fires that burned between 1,000 and 2,000 hectares of the Berbak National Park in Jambi in the past month posed a real threat to many bird species in the area.

The fires burned bird habitats so that they had to seek refuge in other places, which might not be suitable for them. The national park is 162,700 hectares in area. Fire also destroyed thousands of hectares of the national park in 1997.

One of the most endangered birds was the silver dove, which had between 30 and 50 individuals in the area 10 years ago, but now the number of silver doves had dropped to only 10, said Putrina Chandra, an activist with Bird Life Indonesia. -- JP