About 21 migratory Painted Storks were found dead and many others injured at this village in Tungaturthy mandal in Nalgonda district on Wednesday as rains accompanied by gales lashed parts of the district. Since four years, the migratory Painted Storks, which basically live in the southern parts of the Himalayas, have made Karivirala Kothagudem their breeding centre.
The birds which were found dead and injured were infants as they were unable to fly when the gales lashed the village resulting in the collapse of a massive branch of a tamarind tree, on which the mother Painted Storks build nests for breeding.
Nests on huge trees As usual, they are believed to have arrived here in the second half of January in large numbers and built nests for breeding on huge trees located very close to the village tank and laid eggs. Speaking to The Hindu , Maroju Sathaiah, 56, said the birds had started coming to the village since four years.
The birds feed from four fresh water tanks -- Kotha Kunta, Karivarala tank, Sama tank and Thimmana Kunta -- but they made Karivirala Kothagudem and Pasthala, another nearby village, their permanent destinations for breeding. “Most of them would stay in Karivirala Kothagudem village alone, because the village is endowed with massive trees which are suitable for nesting, compared to trees in other villages, he said. During these four years, the villager said that there was never such an incident (death of birds). “They only saw one or two tender birds dying due to sickness or falling from trees at a tender age accidentally.
After learning about the incident, Divisional Forest Officer, Nalgonda, S.Satyanarayana, sent a team of officials to the site to examine the incident.
Injured birds taken to vet Forest Range Officer R.Venkataiah, who led the team to Karivirala Kothagudem, said they took the five seriously injured birds to the veterinary hospital in Tungaturthy and the birds would be released at the same site after treatment.
The Forest Range Officer further said that he had instructed the local forest beat officer P.Ramachandraiah to monitor the movement of injured birds until they recover, with the help of villagers. Mr.Venkataiah said that the birds would not survive if they are taken away from their natural habitat for a long time. Mallepaka Chandramma, 60, said that the incident had pained the villagers. “No villager had ever hurt these birds in these four years,” she said.
The villagers appealed to the State government to create a better nesting environment besides filling the fresh water tanks from Sri Ram Sagar Project (SRSP) to attract the birds.