Over the years, however, as the human habitats expanded exponentially in the countryside, the sightings of peacocks have suddenly become a rarity in most villages. While no peacock census has been held in India to assess their numbers, a scientific survey by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, has confirmed that visibility of the bird has sharply declined throughout India.
 The survey findings resulted by culling information collected from panchayats, birdwatchers, NGOs and state governments. Haryana is one of the peacock-rich states in the country along with Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. "Every morning and in the evening, droves of peacocks could be seen around our houses during our childhood. It was a soothing sight. Nowadays, we feel lucky to chance upon the bird in our vicinity," says Dheeraj Sharma belonging to Banipur village in the southern Haryana district of Rewari.
A protected bird under the schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, India's national bird is facing tough odds in survival stakes in Haryana's hinterland. Not surprisingly, man is a key imponderable in this battle of life and death for the beautiful bird. Not too long ago, 150 peacock deaths were reported from Sharma's neighbouring villages in Rewari and the adjoining Narnaul districts- most of them due to electrocution. It is a pattern being noticed in several peacock deaths in Haryana where the birds fall victim because of non-insulation of high tension wires.
"The government has been promising to insulate electric wires in villages. But nothing has been done despite a large number of peacock deaths," says Naresh Kadyan, president of the Haryana chapter of People for Animals (PFA).
There are umpteen cases where packs of peacocks have been electrocuted. Other reasons for the dwindling peacock population are deaths attributed to consumption of pesticides thrown in fields by the farmers and poaching for feathers and meat. Thankfully, redemption for the beleaguered bird seems round the corner after a spurt in peacock deaths across the state in recent years alerted the state's Forest and Wildlife Department.
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Source: Rajesh Deol in Chandigarh
