Cheer Pheasant (Catreus wallichii) and the Conservation Paradox: Importance of Unprotected Areas

Cheer pheasant is a globally vulnerable species mainly found in the mid-montane grassland of the western Himalayas. Such grasslands are spread sporadically, and the distribution of this species too, as a result, has remained patchy. Using Maxent, we investigated the distribution of cheer across its global range (Pakistan, India, and Nepal) to determine a potential distribution range. The model predicted that higher altitude (increasing probability peaking at 2060 m) and land cover categories of needleleaf evergreen forests, grasslands, barren and stony terrain, and croplands were the likely predictors of cheer pheasant occurrence. The model predicted a total potential distribution range of 3137.9 km(2), most of which lies in India. Interestingly, most areas within this range fall outside the protected areas network and are thus unprotected. The habitat of cheer is believed to require some form of continual disturbance, either naturally or by human intervention, to remain suitable for the species. Given the fact that most of its habitat lies outside the protected areas and the species tolerates limited amount of disturbance to its habitat, the future of the cheer is likely to be in the outside protected areas, provided that extremes of habitat change are limited and hunting is curtailed.