Current view: Data table and detailed info
Taxonomic note
Monotypic.
Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Red List history
| Migratory status |
not a migrant |
Forest dependency |
does not normally occur in forest |
| Land-mass type |
continent
|
Average mass |
3,008 g |
Population justification: Using MaxEnt modelling, Wang et al. (2017) predicted that suitable habitats for this species span an area of c. 2,500 km2. However, the model did not account directly for habitat degradation caused by, for example, yak farming (instead relying on proxies such as distance to habitation), thus the total area of suitable habitat may be smaller. Accounting for occupancy, the species' distribution is assumed here to cover 1,500-2,500 km2. Densities of c. 6 birds/km2 were recorded during the National Wildlife Survey of China (1995-2000). Given these counts were made in the non-breeding season, this density is thought to refer to individuals, not mature individuals. The population is therefore estimated here to number 9,000-15,000 individuals, or c. 6,000-10,000 mature individuals.
Trend justification: Overgrazing by wild yak and the collection of its food plants are degrading the species' habitat and leading to disturbance (He et al. 1986, BirdLife International 2001). This, and localised hunting pressure, is inferred to be driving an ongoing decline in the population size, although the likely rate of decline has not been estimated (Wang et al. 2017). In the future, these impacts may be compounded by climate change. Xu et al. (2020) predicted that the species' occupied range will shift to higher latitudes and altitudes under all predicted climate change scenarios tested and in emission scenarios RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5, to suffer a net loss of 22.0% and 32.6% respectively by the 2050s. How these translate into population size reductions should be closely monitored in the future.
Country/territory distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Chinese Monal Lophophorus lhuysii. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/chinese-monal-lophophorus-lhuysii on 22/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/12/2024.
