“Bird Deaths” ; Over 1700 migratory birds found dead under mysterious circumstances

Around 1700 nomadic birds in Himachal Pradesh’s prominent Pong Dam sanctuary were located dead under eerie possibilities and this has made the authorities concerned. Most of the bird deaths were documented in the Jagmoli and Guglada regions of Dhameta and Nagrota Surian forest areas.

Deputy Conservator of Forests Hamirpur Division Rahul Rohane told that 15 specimens gathered from different areas have been mailed to Indian Veterinary Research Institute in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly, Northern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (NRDDL)in Jalandhar, and High-Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal to distinguish to the chance of death.

“We are anticipating viral, bacterial and pathogen test reports within a couple of days. Till then, we cannot tell the birds died of avian flu but we are actually supposing it to be a flu as the birds are perishing in considerable numbers,” Rahul Rohane said. Wildlife officials state over 95 percent of birds discovered dead are Bar Headed Geese who emigrate from Siberia and Mongolia. According to an assessment of migratory birds, a sum of 1.15- 1.20 lakh birds migrate to Pong Dam bird sanctuary during winters every year and settle to four months in the shelter.

Meanwhile, the state forest department has projected flu oversighted in the wetland. The sampling of dead birds is also being done. In March last year, all selections were discovered negative for avian flu. Dharamshala district administration has prohibited all tourist movements in and near the Pong Dam Sanctuary as a precautionary action till additional mandates.

This arrives after the bird flu virus was noticed in crows, whose corpses were discovered in some places in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Kunji Lal Meena, Rajasthan principal secretary, said that 47 crows have died in Kota, 100 in Jhalawar, and 72 in Baran to date. The bird flu virus was also noticed in around 50 crows whose carcasses were found in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore. “Nearly 50 crows were found dead on the campus of The Daly College in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore on Tuesday. Some of the carcasses were sent for tests to Bhopal. They were found to be carrying the H5N8 virus,” Indore chief medical officer Poornima Gadaria said.