The preliminary investigation has revealed that the peafowls may have consumed crops laced with pesticides.
The carcasses of 28 peafowls were found in Pillaiyarnatham and Andipatti villages near Kovilpatti of Thoothukudi district in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, an incident that has shocked residents. The peafowls were reportedly wandering the cultivable lands to look for feed and initial findings say that the peafowls may have fed on the seeds laced with pesticides.
According to reports, the residents of the villages of Kovilpatti informed the Forest Department officials in Kovilpatti and the Animal Husbandry department after they found the dead birds. The forest department officials arrived and started a preliminary inquiry into the deaths.
The inquiry revealed that as the crop season has started in Kovilpatti, farmers are mixing pesticide to safeguard the crops from a pest attack. The residents believe that the crops laced with pesticides may have caused the death of peafowls.
However, the forest department officials did not rule out the possibility of the peafowls being poisoned on purpose.
The autopsy was conducted by veterinarian Kanimozhi and the samples have been sent for forensic analysis. The veterinarian also said that undigested corn was found in the stomach of the birds.
The Forest Department ranger said that the action will be taken if it was found that poison was mixed in the food.
The national bird of the country, peacock, is protected under the Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Any miscreant killing the bird will invite punishment of imprisonment of up to seven years and penalty.
In 2018, Tamil Nadu had witnessed the death of 43 peafowls in Madurai district. On August 3 that year, 34 female and nine male birds were poisoned to death allegedly by anti-social elements. Based on the information provided by the farmers, the Forest department officials had rushed to the spot and conducted an investigation. The Range Officer of Madurai Wildlife Range Arumugam said that the peafowls had consumed paddy laced with poison.
The forest department officials later found that anti-social elements scattered the paddy grains laced with poison on the fields. The birds had consumed the poison and climbed up a tree. All the birds fell to their death, which also caused a brain haemorrhage, said a report.
Source: The News Minute