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Site description (2004 baseline):

Bahour lake is the second largest wetland in Pondicherry. It is located near the Bahour village about 20 km from Pondicherry city, north of the Pennaiyar river. It is a seasonal freshwater wetland that receives water during the monsoon between September and March. The lake is dry for about 5 months.

AVIFAUNA: Balachandran and Alagarrajan (1995), and Jhunjhunwala (1998) conducted surveys of the wetlands of Pondicherry and recorded over 25,000 waterfowl in Bahour, belonging to 16 species. Over 10,000 Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope and over 3,000 Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis have been recorded (Balachandran and Alagarrajan 1995). Both occur much above the 1% population threshold determined by the Wetlands International (2002). For instance, according to Wetlands International (2002), the nonbreeding population of Eurasian Wigeon wintering in South Asia is 2,50,000. This means that at least 4% of this population is found in Bahour lake. In March (outward migration period), Bahour lake provides staging and feeding sites for thousands of migratory waterfowl, waders and terns. For example, in March 1995, Balachandran and Alagarrajan (1995) counted about 25,000 waterfowl. After March, the water is drained for fishing but by that time, most of the migratory birds move out. The impact of draining of water on resident birds needs to be studied to provide management recommendations.

OTHER KEY FAUNA: As this is basically a wetland surrounded by agricultural fields and human habitation, no mammal or reptile of conservation concern is found here.

MAIN THREATS: Agricultural intensification and expansion; Poaching; Fisheries; Livestock grazing.

Bahour is the main source of irrigation for the surrounding fields. Agricultural runoff from the surrounding fields and pesticides and fertilizers from the agriculture in the dry months could pollute the lake. There are instances of poaching, and the lake is under no formal protection.

Key contributors: Supriya Jhunjhunwala, S. Balachandran, and Priya Davidar.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Bahour Lake (India). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/bahour-lake-iba-india on 22/11/2024.