Photo: Nayan Khanolkar.Broken beaks, bones, and feathers were found Wednesday, February 19 on the outskirts of Phunde village in Uran taluka, about 25 kilometres from Vashi. C.U. Marthe, the forest range officer at Uran, said, “Our preliminary inquiry shows that these broken beaks are of flamingos. However, we have to send them to experts for precise examination. It looks like these birds were attacked or killed here."
Villagers from Phunde said the birds were being hunted and sold as “special chicken meat." According to one villager who did not wish to be named, “A small group of people is catching flamingos with net traps and catapults to sell their meat. Forest or police personnel must identify and arrest these bird poachers."
Because greater and lesser flamingos are threatened species, they fall under the protection of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972. Killing them could incur a penalty of up to seven years in prison. The flamingos that visit Mumbai each winter are already at risk, as their wetlands succumb to mud, debris, and uncontrolled development.“
The Indian tradition of considering our guests as god has been spoiled," said Jaywant Thakur, environmentalist and snake rescuer with the Uran-based group Friends of Nature (FON). “Flamingos are our guests in the winter season, yet some people are cruelly killing them despite the fact that these birds are protected species." Thakur reported that nearly 60 acres of wetland in Uran were destroyed three years ago to develop the Navi Mumbai Special Economic Zone: “These winter birds are now seen in the remaining mudflats. So it is a double blow for flamingos to first lose their habitat and then be hunted down."
Photo: Yuwaraj Gurjar.Naturalist Sunjoy Monga mourned the latest attacks on the flamingos. “It is sad if these protected birds are being attacked and killed. Thankfully, since there are many more bird-watchers armed with cameras these days, such illegal activities can be monitored and checked."
On December 9, 2007, in the last recorded instance of poaching of Mumbai's flamingos, two bird-watchers on the Uran coast filmed a man shooting the birds with a rifle. Tanaji Tandel and his driver Sujit Patel were arrested.
Sanctuary Hosts A Flamingo And Wader Watch.
World Wetlands Day Poster Competition.
Author: Jennifer Scarlott, Source: The Times of India.
