Two from Bidar district invited as special guests for 76th Republic Day parade at New Delhi

Wildlife photographer and conservationist Vivekanand and Panchayat president Manjunath selected as special guests for Republic Day parade.

B. Vivekanand, a wildlife photographer from Shivanagar in Bidar city, and V. Manjunath, president of Srimandal Gram Panchayat in Bidar taluk, have been selected as special guests to attend the 76th Republic Day parade in New Delhi.

Mr. Vivekanand, who has been an outsourced worker at the Forest Department since 2019, provides training to newly appointed staff on bird identification and migration study techniques and to help with rescue, rehabilitation and conservation.

Sharing his experience of monitoring the critically endangered lesser florican at the Bidar grassland area, Mr. Vivekanand said that he closely monitored the species from 2019 and the last time he saw it was in 2023, he said.

Mr. Vivekanand, who extensively worked on grassland conservation, states that it will not only help protect the lesser florican, but also conserve other species that depend on grassland habitation.

In 2021, the State government allocated ₹50 lakh for the conservation of the lesser florican, he added. The 30-year-old wildlife photographer was also a part of a survey conducted by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) to study the “Developing Strategies for Conservation of Last Remaining Population of Lesser Florican in Deccan” in 2023.

 “Around 40 to 50 lesser floricans used to travel from Rajasthan every winter, but only four to five birds were seen this season. The lesser florican is on the verge of extinction owing to drastic reduction in grassland cover, which is considered to be their habitat,” Mr. Vivekand explained.

Mr. Manjunath has provided basic amenities like drinking water facilities, community toilets, and established a library in villages under the Srimandal gram panchayat.