Golden Mahseer: The River Fish, Not a Bird

What the Golden Mahseer is

• The Golden Mahseer (Tor putitora) is a large freshwater fish.
• It lives in Himalayan rivers and is prized by anglers.
• It is Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
• Dams, pollution and overfishing threaten it.
• Sources: WWF-India and Wikipedia.

Not the other mahseer

• Indian Nightjar, Spoonbill and White Ibis are all birds.
• The Golden Mahseer is a different species from the Blue-finned Mahseer.
• The Golden Mahseer lives in Himalayan rivers, not the Cauvery.

Nightjar, spoonbill and ibis

• Indian Nightjar: a small night bird with camouflaged feathers and a churring call.
• Eurasian Spoonbill: a wading bird with a long, flat, spoon-shaped bill. It sweeps the bill through shallow water to catch fish and crustaceans.
• White Ibis: a wading bird of wetlands and coasts. Indian ibis species include the Black-headed (Oriental White) Ibis.

How far it has fallen

• The IUCN estimates the population fell by over 50% in about 21 years, or three generations.
• Dams, changed river flows, barriers to migration and overfishing all contribute.
• It is a state fish of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, and of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
• Sources: IUCN Red List assessment and Wikipedia.

Bringing it back

• Conservation uses hatchery breeding and ranching: stocking rivers with hatchery-bred young.
• WWF-India surveyed the Kosi River in Uttarakhand.
• It is preparing a species management plan for a 30-kilometre stretch.
• Source: WWF-India.