The sudden death of several birds at Gudavi Bird Sanctuary in Sorab taluk has left the officers of the Forest Department in worry. In a span of seven days, more than 30 birds, including spoonbills, herons, and black-headed ibis, were found dead.
The reason for the sudden deaths of the winged visitors to the sanctuary is not clear. The veterinarians of the Forest Department and the Regional Research Centre of the Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Department have conducted the post-mortem, and the analysis of samples collected from the dead birds is going on.
Prasanna Krishna Patagar, DCF (Wildlife), told The Hindu that the reason for the sudden deaths was not yet clear. “The preliminary reports of the post-mortem did not suggest any disease. However, the lab reports of the analysis of body samples are yet to arrive,” he said.
The officers have also collected samples of water from the tank in the sanctuary for analysis. “The birds keep going out and coming in. There are many tanks in the nearby locality. The experts are analysing the water samples to check if there was any contamination”, he added.
Gudavi Sanctuary, located about 13 km away from Sorab, attracts hundreds of birds. The sanctuary is spread over 73.68 hectares, which includes a water-spread area of 33 hectares.
According to the Forest Department, around 190 species of birds are found in the sanctuary. The birds that normally nest in the sanctuary are white ibis, egrets, comorants, snake birds, spoonbills, herons, and ducks.
