Agartala (Tripura):
Carcasses of several hundred migratory birds were recovered on Thursday in the Sukh Sagar Lake area in the Khilpara area below Udaipur in the Gomati district of Tripura.
Shortly after the dead birds were spotted near the lake area, the concerned forest department officials were informed. A team of Forest personnel led by DFO Gomati District Mahendra Singh visited the site and ordered a thorough investigation.
In a telephone conversation with ANI, Mr Singh did not disclose anything concrete but said he has ordered an investigation and a report is being prepared on the incident.
Sub-Divisional Forest Officer Kamal Bhowmik said the matter is under investigation. According to preliminary reports, these birds came to Udaipur in the past six to seven years. These birds are actually from California and in extreme weather conditions in their current habitat during this period they prefer to come to Tripura in the winter seasons.
Local sources claimed that a large number of birds had been taken by the locals to eat. Some sources also said that people hunted these birds for food. Locals also said this could be a response to pesticides used in the croplands next to the lake.
“We’ve seen people take the dead birds away. Some people put the bird carcasses in bags and took them home. We don’t know why they took it,” said a local passer-by. The bird carcasses were found scattered across vast paddy fields and the waters of the lake.
It is also worth mentioning here that Tripura’s rich biodiversity makes the state an ideal location for the migratory birds to come here and stay especially during the winter season. Thousands of rare birds come here to enjoy the winter season and the lakes scattered across the state, record sightings of several extinct species rarely seen around the world.
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