Dhodial Pheasantry (or Dhodial Pheasant Center) is a

pheasantry A pheasantry is a place or facility used for captive breeding and rearing pheasants, peafowls and other related birds, which may or may not be confined with enclosures such as aviaries. The pheasants may be sold or displayed to public as orna ...

and breeding center for several species of

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Eura ...

s situated in

Mansehra District Mansehra District (Urdu, ) is a district in the Hazara Division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northern Pakistan. Mansehra city serves as the headquarters of the district. The district has a Hindkowan majority, with a significant Pashtun and Kohista ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. It has been set up for the purposes of research, conservation, tourism, and education. The pheasantry has around 250 exhibits providing shelter to around 4,000 birds.

Location

Dhodial Pheasantry is located on

Karakorum Highway The Karakoram Highway (, ), also known as the KKH, National Highway 35 (), N-35, and the ChinaPakistan Friendship Highway, is a national highway which extends from Hasan Abdal in the Punjab province of Pakistan to the Khunjerab Pass in Gi ...

in the village of Dhodial,

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

, from

Abbottabad Abbottabad is a city in the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in the country and 6th largest in the province by population, and serves as the headquarter of its namesake tehsil and district ...

, towards the village of Shinkiari. It covers an area of . The Dhodial campus of

Hazara University The Hazara University (HU) is a public university located in Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Recognized university Hazara University is recognized as a higher education institution by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. Overv ...

is located near the facility.

History

Dhodial Pheasantry was established in 1984 by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife Department with the support of the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

and the World Pheasant Association. It was initially set up over an area of . In 2001, when

planned to expand its campus over , then

Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as Governor of North-West Frontier Province) is the appointed head of state of the provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly North-West Frontier Province, or NWFP), Pakistan. Alth ...

Lt. Gen Iftikhar Hussain Shah ordered the pheasantry to be relocated to the Jaba Sheep Farm. The Inevitable Flight, a documentary film about this issue, was made by a Pakistani Canadian documentary filmmaker, Azfar Rizvi. This brought the issue under public scrutiny. Subsequently, other factors kicked in and mobilized enough public and political support that the relocation was cancelled.

Public services

An information center has been developed in the aviary to accommodate visitors, facilitate researchers, and spread awareness among local pheasant breeders. More than 500 people visit the aviary daily. The entry fee for the aviary is 10

Pakistani rupee The Pakistani rupee (; ISO code: PKR; symbol: ; abbreviation: Re (singular) and Rs (plural)) is the official currency in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the State Bank of Pakistan. It was officia ...

s per person. In 2011, the aviary was closed to the public due to the supposed spread of

bird flu "Bird Flu" is an urumee melam-dance song by recording artist M.I.A. on her second studio album '' Kala'' (2007). It was released as a digital download in 2006 through XL Recordings under exclusive license to Interscope Records in the US. Cri ...

. By July, all of the birds had been vaccinated and the aviary was opened to the public again on July 5, 2011.

Conservation efforts

The

cheer pheasant The cheer pheasant (''Catreus wallichii''), also known as Wallich's pheasant or chir pheasant, is a vulnerable species of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. It is the only member in the genus ''Catreus''. The scientific name commemorates Danish ...

, which became extinct in Pakistan, was reintroduced in the region. The World Pheasants Association sent 90 eggs of the species to the Dhodial Pheasantry. Among the eggs which hatched, the mortality was high and remained high till 1995. This situation got better in 1996. In 1997, a parent flock of 40 pairs was raised and eventually reintroduction of the cheer pheasant in

Hazara District Hazara District was a district of Peshawar Division in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. It existed until 1976, when it was split into the districts of Abbottabad and Mansehra, with the new district of Haripur subsequently splitti ...

was carried out. As of 2007, there are around 60 pairs of cheer pheasant in the Dhodial Pheasantry.

Species

Birds

Pheasants

Dhodial Pheasantry holds captive 38 of the 52 species of pheasants found in the world. Some of these include: * Bar-tailed pheasant * Blue eared pheasant * Brown eared pheasant *

Cheer pheasant The cheer pheasant (''Catreus wallichii''), also known as Wallich's pheasant or chir pheasant, is a vulnerable species of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. It is the only member in the genus ''Catreus''. The scientific name commemorates Danish ...

Common pheasant The common pheasant (''Phasianus colchicus''), ring-necked pheasant, or blue-headed pheasant, is a bird in the pheasant family (biology), family (Phasianidae). The genus name comes from Latin ''phasianus'' 'pheasant'. The species name ''colchic ...

Elliot's pheasant Elliot's pheasant (''Syrmaticus ellioti'') is a large pheasant native to south-eastern China. Description Males are up to long; they are brown and white with a black throat, chestnut-brown upper parts, white belly, nape and wing bars, red bare fa ...

* Edwards's pheasant *

Golden pheasant The golden pheasant (''Chrysolophus pictus''), also known as the Chinese pheasant, and rainbow pheasant, is a gamebird of the order Galliformes (gallinaceous birds) and the family Phasianidae (pheasants). The genus name is from Ancient Greek ' ...

Green peafowl The green peafowl (''Pavo muticus'') is a peafowl species native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia and Indochina. It is the national bird of Myanmar. Formerly common throughout Southeast Asia, only a few isolated populations survive in ...

Grey francolin The grey francolin (''Ortygornis pondicerianus'') is a species of francolin found in the plains and drier parts of the Indian subcontinent and Iran. This species was formerly also called the grey partridge, not to be confused with the European gr ...

Himalayan monal The Himalayan monal (''Lophophorus impejanus''), also called Impeyan monal and Impeyan pheasant, is a pheasant native to Himalayan forests and shrublands at elevations of . It is part of the family Phasianidae and is listed as Least Concern on th ...

Indian peafowl The Indian peafowl (''Pavo cristatus''), also known as the common peafowl, or blue peafowl, is a peafowl species native to the Indian subcontinent. While it originated in the Indian subcontinent, it has since been introduced to many other part ...

Kalij pheasant The kalij pheasant (''Lophura leucomelanos''), or simply kalij, is a pheasant found in forests and thickets, especially in the Himalayan foothills, from Nepal, Pakistan to western Thailand. Males are rather variable depending on the subspecies ...

Koklass pheasant The koklass pheasant (''Pucrasia macrolopha'') is a species of gamebird, being closely related to progenitive grouse that lived during the Miocene. They are distantly related to pheasants and are most closely related to grouse and turkeys. Kok ...

Lady Amherst's pheasant Lady Amherst's pheasant (''Chrysolophus amherstiae'') is a bird of the order Galliformes and the family Phasianidae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''khrusolophos'', "with golden crest". The English name and ''amherstiae'' commemorates Sara ...

Reeves's pheasant Reeves's pheasant (''Syrmaticus reevesii'') is a large pheasant within the genus ''Syrmaticus''. It is Endemism, endemic to China. It is named after the British people, British natural history, naturalist John Reeves (naturalist), John Reeves, wh ...

Satyr tragopan The satyr tragopan (''Tragopan satyra'') also known as the crimson horned pheasant, is a pheasant found in the Himalayan reaches of India, Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan. They reside in moist oak and rhododendron forests with dense undergrowth and bambo ...

Siamese fireback The Siamese fireback (''Lophura diardi''), also known as Diard's fireback, is a fairly large, approximately long, pheasant. The male has a grey plumage with an extensive facial caruncle, crimson legs and feet, ornamental black crest feathers, re ...

Silver pheasant The silver pheasant (''Lophura nycthemera'') is a species of pheasant found in forests, mainly in mountains, of mainland Southeast Asia and eastern and southern China. It is introduced on Victoria Island in Nahuel Huapi Lake, Neuquén, Argenti ...

* Swinhoe's pheasant *

Western tragopan The western tragopan or western horned tragopan (''Tragopan melanocephalus'') is a medium-sized brightly plumed pheasant found along the range of Himalayas from north-eastern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northern Pakistan in the we ...

* White eared pheasant

Other

;Cranes *

Demoiselle crane The demoiselle crane (''Grus virgo'') is a species of crane found in central Eurosiberia, ranging from the Black Sea to Mongolia and Northeast China. There is also a small breeding population in Turkey. These cranes are migratory birds. Birds f ...

;Waterfowls *

Bar-headed goose The bar-headed goose (''Anser indicus'') is a goose that breeds in Central Asia in colonies of thousands near mountain lakes and winters in South Asia, as far south as peninsular India. It lays three to eight eggs at a time in a ground nest. It ...

Gadwall The gadwall (''Mareca strepera'') is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae. Taxonomy The gadwall was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. DNA studies have shown th ...

Mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

Northern pintail The pintail or northern pintail (''Anas acuta'') is a duck species with wide geographic Range (biology), distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is bird migration, migratory an ...

* Poachard *

Tufted duck The tufted duck (or tufted pochard) (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of nearly one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. They are partially migratory. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek , an unide ...

Mammals

The facility also houses some species of mammals: *

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies and the nominate tiger subspecies. It ranks among the largest wild cats alive today. It is estimated to have been present in the Indian subcontinent since the Late ...

Chinkara The chinkara (''Gazella bennettii''), also known as the Indian gazelle, is a gazelle species native to India, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Taxonomy The following six subspecies are considered valid: * Deccan chinkara (''G. b. bennettii'') ...

Leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

Urial The urial ( ; ''Ovis vignei''), also known as arkars, shapo, or shapu, is a wild sheep native to Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Taxonomy ''Ovis vignei'' was the scientific name proposed by Edward Bly ...