NEW DELHI: Inside the fortified 330 acres of Rashtrapati Bhavan the country's national bird, the peacock, may be safe from poaching and hunting, but is still in need of more attention to be able to multiply in numbers.
Alarmed over the death of a large number of peacocks in Uttar Pradesh due to soaring heat, the state forest department has stepped in to fill up water bodies dried up by the scorching summer heat.
The peacock feather is making the fur fly. The proposed ban on the use of the peacock feather (even those naturally shed) has triggered surprise and dismay among young product designers, who consider the beautiful bird their muse.
Sizzling tempera tures and paucity of water has begun to take a toll on the birds in UP. About a dozen peacock deaths have been reported form Etawah district in the past 24 hours and 10 Gray Francolin, popularly known as teetar have also been found dead in the same area. In Allahabad, in Ghoorpur village, half a dozen sparrows were found dead near a well.
Lucknow: The sweltering heat could have caused the death of peacocks in Farrukhabad division of UP forests. The forest officials have recovered two bodies and sent them for post-mortem. The report will come up with exact cause of death. In the meantime, forest officials are sticking to the opinion that peacocks could have died because of heatstroke.
Hyderabad, May 11: The Central government has banned the trade in peacock feathers and mere possession of the feathers is now a crime under the Wildlife Protection Act.
The environment and forests ministry has taken the decision in order to stop the poaching and killing of peacocks mainly for their colourful feathers that are used in religious rituals and for decoration.
At least a dozen peacocks were found dead near here apparently due to scorching heat and non-availability of water, forest officials said.
"Nearly a dozen peacocks were found dead on Tuesday at Narsinghshila village, about 20 km from here. The carcasses were brought to the district headquarters here today for post-mortem," district forest officer K.S. Bhadoriya said.
