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By Helen Fosgate
Many of the wild relatives of domestic chickens, turkeys, quail and guinea fowl are on the brink of extinction, but few are receiving much attention or conservation funding worldwide, according to  scientists. Researchers met this past month at the World Pheasant Association in Parc de Cleres, France, to discuss the sharp decline of the Galliformes, a diverse group of birds that includes many of the world’s most familiar food and game birds.
“Many of these species now exist in just one or two locations in the world,” says John Carroll, a wildlife biologist in UGA’s Warnell School of Forest Resources who chairs the International Partridge, Quail and Francolin Specialist Group, a part of the World Conservation Union. “Most Americans recognize the bobwhite quail, and maybe the ring-necked pheasant, which isn’t even native to North America. But the group includes more than 140 amazing species.”
Most Galliformes are native to the tropics and were once plentiful in Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America. Carroll says the causes of their decline are many and vary from country to country but include deforestation, urban and suburban development, uncontrolled hunting and intensive agriculture.
Galliformes are particularly hard hit by intensive farming practices that remove hedgerows and field borders and rely heavily on pesticides and herbicides. Carroll and others are working to restore some populations even as they report that others are slipping away.
“We’ve been collecting data and the opinions of scientists in those countries to categorize the status of different species,” he says. “We’re optimistic, because as we highlight their plight people become concerned, and we’ve gotten some research funded.”
 Among the most threatened are the Himalayan quail and Edward’s pheasant, thought to be already extinct before a few were spotted in 1996. Carroll says all are considered “critically endangered,” because of their small numbers and limited distribution.
Another concern is the loss of “wild” genes. The red jungle fowl, the ancestor of the common yard chicken, is widely distributed in Asia, but new evidence suggests that the wild stock is being hybridized by domestic chickens. Scientists worry because wild genes often hold the key to disease resistance among domestic flocks.
Scientists formed the Partridge, Quail and Francolin Specialist Group in 1991 to address these problems. Since then they have conducted population and distribution surveys and developed conservation action plans. Practical solutions are urgent. Several of the Galliforme species are already extinct. Others hang on in small pockets of habitat and face an uncertain future.
For example, the orange-necked hill partridge was first described in 1927 but wasn’t seen again by scientists until 1991. Carroll says recent surveys show they aren’t all gone, but there may be only 200 individuals left in their native Vietnam. These survive in a small park.
“And this isn’t an unusual example among the Galliformes,” says Carroll. “We’re trying desperately to keep them from slipping through the conservation cracks.”
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