Supaul, Bihar launch campaign to conserve migratory birds;

Authorities in Supaul, Bihar, have started a campaign to protect migratory birds and have appealed to the people for help.

‘We have boosted patrolling at migratory bird areas… forest officers have been told to keep a close watch on water authorities to ensure that migratory birds are not trapped by poachers,’ divisional forest officer Sunil Kumar Sharan said. He also said that they had taken a serious stand on migratory bird hunting and trapping.

Aid poachers were active, according to Arvind Mishra, a birder, and a sustained drive against them is needed.

Sharan disputed Khagaria and Supaul’s claims that migratory birds were being sold.

Two years back, farmers of Katihar’s Amdabad and Manihari blocks offered about 140 acres of land to develop the Gogabeel Lake into a reserve for birds.

Ian Baber, the Asia programme manager at Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, visited the lake in 2013 and called for developing it into an eco-tourist spot. He said he was impressed with the number of migratory birds there.