Deborah Kruger

Bengal Florican

(Houbaropsis bengalensis)

This drawing from the France collection moves me because there are so few Bengal Floricans left in the world, most of them in Cambodia, which I have used as a map shape for a series of pieces. This rarest bustard ranges from 66–68 cm (26–27 in) in length and stands around 55 cm (22 in) tall. Reduced to living on tiny fragments of land, this species is threatened by land conversion for intensive agriculture and poaching. The Bengal Florican is critically endangered and there are only several hundred left.

Did you know: Bengal Florican’s are site-faithful, meaning that they return almost to the same exact place for their annual courtship rituals.