It was supposed to be a day of discovery of avian species for birders. Instead, they ended up discovering poachers. Participants at the Big Bird Day on Sunday found a three-feet fine plastic net stretched over 200 metres.
“We found two men with a parked autorickshaw using staves to slash at bushes in the backwaters of Himayatsagar. When we asked them about it, they said it is to shoo away cats. But we discovered a net that stretched to a great length,” said Kalyan Ineni, a member of Hyderabad Birding Pals, who discovered the trap.
“Another net was removed by the poachers before the police and forest officials turned up,” informed Mr. Ineni.
Rampant poaching
This was not the first instance. A few week ago, when Ratish Nanda of Aga Khan Trust for Culture reached the Himayatsagar foreshore area with his camera to photograph birds, he was threatened by a few men who cleared the area of bushes and lit it up. Bushes are one of the key indicators of bird life with a range of small birds thriving in healthy environment.
The poaching activity is not limited to Himayatsagar and Osmansagar. Another birder, Ravi Jillapalli, who has been tracking poaching activity on the campus of University of Hyderabad, says there have been multiple instances including one where a stray dog got trapped.
“Security has increased on campus but there are many weak points in the boundary wall which is used by poachers to get inside the 1600-acre area,” says Mr. Jillapalli. “We have discovered nets to trap peacocks and koels, metal traps for rabbits and deer and new trapping pit which is clever in an evil way,” he says.
Bird count up
Hyderabad has seen a surge in bird count over the past few years due to rising awareness about environment. Mr. Ineni’s team discovered 60 species in a span of a few hours.
“If poachers are active in a forest which is difficult to reach, that can be understood. But this is close to the city. This is really brazen,” says Tejdeep Kaur Menon of Telangana State Special Protection Force.
