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India’s Environment Ministry Does Not Collate Indian Roller Population Assessments Into a National Estimate

Indian roller perched on a branch in Madhya Pradesh, India
Conservation · Management

India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change told Parliament on 12 February 2026 that population assessments of Indian roller (Coracias benghalensis) are carried out by state and union-territory authorities but are not collated by the ministry into a national estimate.

The statement came in response to a Rajya Sabha question that cited a reported decline of nearly 30% in Telangana over 12 years and asked whether population surveys, monitoring programmes or habitat-mapping initiatives had been undertaken. The ministry’s answer did not confirm that decline figure or provide a national population trend.

The ministry gave no national population estimate

The ministry explained that nationwide population estimation is carried out for selected flagship species such as tiger, snow leopard and dolphin. For other wild animals and birds, assessments are conducted by individual states and union territories, and the results are not assembled into a single national estimate by the ministry.

The answer therefore presented no new national population figure for Indian roller. It did confirm that the species is listed in Schedule II of India’s Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, under which listed wildlife is protected against hunting.

Sources and image credit

  1. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. (2026, February 12). Protection of Indian Roller (Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1500). Government of India.Official parliamentary answer dated 12 February 2026. The ministry states that population assessments for non-flagship wild animals and birds are carried out by states and union territories and are not collated at ministry level; Indian roller is listed in Schedule II of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.

Image: Tisha Mukherjee — Indian roller (Coracias benghalensis) in Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India, 27 December 2024; representative species image. Source: Wikimedia Commons. · CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Source

About this content: This story was produced with AI assistance within an editorial workflow developed by Wildlife Vagabond. Editorial responsibility remains with Wildlife Vagabond.How AI is used

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