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| Bulwer's pheasant | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Wild adult male inSabah, Malaysia | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Galliformes |
| Family: | Phasianidae |
| Genus: | Lophura |
| Species: | L. bulweri |
| Binomial name | |
| Lophura bulweri (Sharpe, 1874) | |
| Synonyms | |
Lobiophasis bulweri | |
Bulwer's pheasant (Lophura bulweri), also known asBulwer's wattled pheasant, thewattled pheasant or thewhite-tailed wattled pheasant, is aSoutheast Asian bird in the familyPhasianidaeendemic to the forests ofBorneo. It is currently listed asVulnerable by theIUCN.
Bulwer's pheasant belongs to the orderGalliformes, in the familyPhasianidae. The genus nameLophura is derived from theGreek wordlophos for ridge, crest or tuft. The species namebulweri is afterSir Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer, Governor ofLabuan 1871–1875, who presented thetype specimen to theBritish Museum.[2]
Bulwer's pheasant issexually dimorphic. Males have a total length of about 80 centimetres (31 in), and are black-plumaged with a maroon breast, crimson legs, a pure white tail of long, curved feathers, and bright blue facial skin with twowattles that conceal the sides of its head. Females have a total length of about 55 centimetres (22 in), and are an overall dull brown colour with red legs and blue facial skin.
Bulwer's pheasant isendemic to the island ofBorneo.[3] While the species is locally common in protected areas (e.g.Kayan Mentarang National Park,East Kalimantan) it is rarely found elsewhere. The bird inhabits hill and lowermontane tropical forest, likely preferring highlandrainforests and rarely visiting the lowlands below an altitude of 300 metres (980 ft). The diet consists mainly of fruits, worms, and insects.
Bulwer's pheasant is listed asVulnerable on theIUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to a rapidly declining population.[1] The primary reasons for this decline arehabitat loss andfragmentation due tocommercial logging andforest fires. Local hunting is also thought to undermine the birds population. Further,captive breeding programs aimed at preserving the species have met with little success.[4] John Roach fromNational Geographic offers another explanation for their decline in numbers by saying "the birds themselves seem to find each other somewhat less than appealing" in speaking with ornithologist John Rowden of theWildlife Conservation Society in New York City and curator of animals at theCentral Park Zoo.[4]
This species is very rarely kept in zoos due to mating problems. The only western zoos to house the species areSan Diego Zoo which kept three males and theSan Antonio Zoo which had a mother-son pair in 2000.[5] Neither zoo currently lists the bird as an exhibit in 2017.Walsrode Bird Park inGermany has kept the birds as recently as 2003, andAntwerp Zoo,Belgium, has bred the birds. Antwerp Zoo has been very successful with many members of the genusLophura. InPairi Daiza two males arrived in 2018, which made the zoo at the time the only one in Europe with this species in its collection. This individual has, however, died since, in 2022; due to a fox attack.
