Bengal floricans in Nepal: Are these small birds, critically endangered, awaiting extinction?

How can the extinction of Bengal floricans, a small bird species, affect us? It is not the end of the world, is it? That’s what most people think. But what we are forgetting is that be it humans, plants or animals, all are part of the web-like interconnected ecosystem and even one species being in danger can have disastrous impacts on the rest of the ecosystem.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List , currently, more than 41,000 species are under threat of extinction, which further asserts how the ecosystem is slowly falling apart and how global warming and unsustainable human-led activities in the wildlife habitat are bringing the species to their pitiful ends. And one such bird is the Bengal florican (Houbaropsis bengalensis) whose status has pitifully upgraded from endangered to critically endangered on the IUCN Red List.