PHEASANT

This pheasant is found in southern Viet Nam and the adjacent provinces of Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri in eastern Cambodia, where it occurs in a number of protected areas, including Cat Tien and Bu Gia Map national parks, Cat Loc Nature Reserve, Da Lat and Di Linh plateaus, and Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary. Although found in higher concentrations in primary evergreen and semi-evergreen forest, it also occurs in lower densities in disturbed and secondary forests impacted by logging, suggesting it is relatively adaptable. However, it suffered severe habitat loss historically due to deforestation for agriculture, plantations and human settlements.

Several thousand Germain’s peacock pheasants exist in the wild, with a few protected areas estimated to contain more than 1,000 birds each. In some locations there is high hunting and trapping pressure, particularly from snares, posing a significant threat to its survival. It is traded and consumed locally as meat. Its sister species, the grey peacock-pheasant, and other ground-living Galliformes birds were snared for local consumption and trade in the forests of southern Laos in the 1990s, resulting in population declines and local extirpations. In the same period, many pheasants and other Galliformes were traded commonly in the urban markets in Ho Chi Minh City.

BirdLife https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22679372A92812961.en Accessed 9 May 2023.