BENGALURU: Missing upper beaks, eyes or claws, twisted legs, and broken wings are some of the sights that wildlife rescuers come across when they are summoned to save injured creatures. The mutilated bodies of slender loris, black kites, owls, and at times, crows, are the result of black magic belief systems, they say.
“I usually get calls on Amavasya. Recently, before Ugadi, we found two black kites kept inside a bag at Girinagar. The heart of one bird was punctured while the other’s leg was twisted,” said Yashas Bharadwaj, an urban wildlife rescuer who volunteers with People for Animals (PFA), Avian and Reptile Rehabilitation Centre (ARRC) and Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation Centre (WRRC).
Bharadwaj said he receives two to five rescue calls per month involving such animals. “Once, in Bangalore University, I found a slender loris with burnt legs,” he added. According to him, who has been a rescuer for 12 years, black magic practitioners believe harming animals will bring ill-effects on the targeted person.
The birds are often found with the upper beak or three digits on the talons missing, Anand Gowda, a rescuer at PFA, said.
“The skin around the beak often appears to be burnt by an iron rod to remove it,” said Gowda, who gets three calls per month about such cases from Turahalli, Bannerghatta, Vijayanagar, Srirampuram and Malleswaram. The creatures are found dehydrated and starved. Many die on the way to the rescue centre while some survive, depending on the extent of the injury.
Veterinary doctors can usually tell if the case involves cruelty.
“A black kite needs the beak to eat, and the claws to grab prey. If it survives, we put it on lifetime care by hand feeding it minced meat. If an owl’s wings are fractured, they are put in an enclosure for life,” said Dr Karthik M, a veterinarian at PFA.
“The worst cases are of infection in a wing that spreads to the body and kills the animal,” Karthik added.
If one eye of the slender loris is pricked with pins dipped in chemical, they can still survive. However, many die owing to starvation.
The forest department, responsible for looking into such cases, says it’s difficult to nab the culprits since they don’t have a network to track such activities.
“Our field staffers receive calls from wildlife organisations,” said Dipika Bajpai, a senior forest official.
“If found, the black magicians are prosecuted under Wildlife Protection Act.”