43 peafowl found dead in Madurai

Tamil Nadu Forest Department begins probe.

August 04, 2018 08:47 pm | Updated 08:47 pm IST - MADURAI

Peafowl found dead near the Mangalakkudi channel in Madurai on Saturday.

Peafowl found dead near the Mangalakkudi channel in Madurai on Saturday.

A total of 43 peafowl lay dead over a 1 km area of a dry channel at Mangalakudi near Kadachanendal in the outskirts of Madurai on Saturday morning. Officials from the City Police and Forest Department, who rushed to the spot, suspect poisoning to be the cause of the deaths of 34 female and nine male birds.

S. Arumugam, Range Officer, Madurai Wildlife Range, said that the peafowl may have consumed paddy grains laced with poison on Friday night. A senior veterinarian who performed the post mortem said that there is a definite correlation between the grains and the death.

“After interacting with locals, we found that the birds usually go for grazing around this area in the morning and return to their nests among coconut trees by about 6.30 p.m. every day. It is likely that some anti-social elements scattered the food on Friday evening. Preliminary reports suggest that the birds died on Friday night,” he said.

He added that many birds had fallen to their death from a tall tree, causing brain haemorrhage.

The source said that the suspected grains laced with poison were found in the gut, digestive tract and crop (an expanded portion of the alimentary tract of birds, used for the storage of food prior to digestion) of 80% of the animals. “We have taken 30 samples and will be sending it to the Forensics Department, Madras Veterinary College, and several other units for a detailed investigation,” he said.

Mr. Arumugam said that the Forest Department conducted further investigations on Saturday afternoon and a few persons are suspected to be behind the incident. “Action will be taken only after the forensic reports are back in about 10 days,” he said.

He adds that Peacock, the national bird, is protected under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and killing the bird is punishable under section 51(1-A) with imprisonment that may extend to seven years, and financial penalty. “Some people kill the birds intentionally. Others do it because they want to protect their insects and use heavy doses of insecticides. This does not look like an accident to me,” he said.

S. Pandiammal who has lived close to the habitat of the birds for five years now, says that they would feed and water the birds every morning between 6:30 and 7 a.m. “The death is a huge loss for us because we would daily give them grains. We even constructed a cement tank for them so that they could drink water through the day. If we do not feed the birds at the same time everyday, several of them would gather in front of my house. The sight of the peacocks strutting around through the day was unadulterated beauty. The incident has deeply affected me,” she said.

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