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 or used as ...

and breeding center for several species of

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family (biology), family Phasianidae in the order (biology), order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera na ...

s situated in

Mansehra District Mansehra District is a district in Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It was established as a district in 1976, prior to which it was a tehsil within the former Hazara District. Two former subdivisions of Mansehra were ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. 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 ( ur, , translit=śāhirāh qarāquram; known by its initials KKH, also known as N-35 or National Highway 35 ( ur, ) or the China-Pakistan Friendship Highway) is a national highway which extends from Hasan Abdal in ...

in the village of

Dhodial Dhodial (also known as Dhudial) is a town and union council located near Baffa between Mansehra and Shinkiari in Mansehra District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Dhodial is a fertile region known for its vegetables and tobacco. Dho ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

, from

Abbottabad Abbottabad (; Urdu, Punjabi language(HINDKO dialect) آباد, translit=aibṭabād, ) is the capital city of Abbottabad District in the Hazara region of eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in Pakistan and fourth ...

, towards the village of

Shinkiari Shinkiari ( ps, شینکیارۍ; Hindko/Urdu: شنکیاری) is a Union Council of Mansehra District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is a major tea city with many tea gardens. The police station was established before the Part ...

. 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. Overvi ...

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; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

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 is the appointed head of state of the provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly North-West Frontier Province), Pakistan. Although the governor is the head of the province on paper, it is largely a ce ...

Lt. Gen

Iftikhar Hussain Shah Lieutenant General Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah (14 March 1949 – 15 March 2020) was a governor of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Early life and education Syed was born on 14 March 1949 into a family belonging to the Mian (tribe) ...

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 ( ur, / ALA-LC: ; sign: Re (singular) and Rs (plural); ISO code: PKR) is the official currency of Pakistan since 1948. The coins and notes are issued and controlled by the central bank, namely State Bank of Pakistan. In ...

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. Cr ...

. 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 b ...

, 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 splitting of ...

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 The blue eared pheasant (''Crossoptilon auritum'') is a large, up to long, dark blue-gray pheasant with velvet black crown, red facial feathers appearing as bare skin, yellow iris, long white ear coverts behind the eyes, and crimson legs. Its tai ...

Brown eared pheasant The brown-eared pheasant (''Crossoptilon mantchuricum'') is a large, 96– to 100-cm-long, dark brown pheasant endemic to the mountain forests of northeastern China (Shanxi and nearby provinces). The species was first described by Robert Swinho ...

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 b ...

Common pheasant The common pheasant (''Phasianus colchicus'') is a bird in the pheasant family (biology), family (Phasianidae). The genus name comes from Latin ''phasianus'', "pheasant". The species name ''colchicus'' is Latin for "of Colchis" (modern day Geor ...

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 bar ...

Edwards's pheasant Edwards's pheasant (''Lophura edwardsi'') is a bird of the pheasant family Phasianidae and is endemic to the rainforests of Vietnam. It is named after the French ornithologist Alphonse Milne-Edwards and first described to science in 1896. The ...

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 or Indonesian peafowl (''Pavo muticus'') is a peafowl species native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2009 because the global population has been declining r ...

Grey francolin The grey francolin (''Ortygornis pondicerianus''), also known as "manu moa" or "chicken bird", 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 partr ...

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, and blue peafowl, is a peafowl species native to the Indian subcontinent. It has been introduced to many other countries. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and ...

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

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. Ko ...

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 endemic to China. It is named after the British naturalist John Reeves, who first introduced live specimens to Europe in 1831. Description ...

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, with an introduced population on Victoria Island in Nahuel Huapi Lake, Neu ...

Swinhoe's pheasant Swinhoe's pheasant (''Lophura swinhoii''), also known as the Taiwan blue pheasant, is a bird of the pheasant subfamily in the fowl family Phasianidae. It is endemic to Taiwan. Along with the Mikado pheasant and Taiwan blue magpie, two other Taiw ...

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

White eared pheasant The white eared pheasant (''Crossoptilon crossoptilon''), also known as Dolan’s eared pheasant or Bee's pheasant, is a species of " eared pheasant" that get its name because its colouration is white and has the prominent ear tufts of the genu ...

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 North Eastern China. There is also a small breeding population in Turkey. These cranes are migratory birds. Bir ...

;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 that ...

Mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and 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 distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is migratory and winters south of its breeding ra ...

* Poachard *

Tufted duck The tufted duck or tufted pochard (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of close to one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek '' aithuia'', an unidentified seabird ment ...

Mammals

The facility also houses some species of mammals: *

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...

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

Leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

Urial The urial ( ; ''Ovis vignei''), also known as the arkars or shapo, is a wild sheep native to Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Characteristics Urial males have large horns, curling outwards from the to ...