NAGAPATTINAM : A Rapid response unit comprising 15 members, including veterinarians from Vandalur zoo, is conducting a preliminary assessment of damage caused to birds at Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary. The forest suffered a huge loss of trees in Cyclone Gaja.
Forest department officials stated it was too premature to arrive at the exact number of bird deaths as Thursday was only the third day of the assessment. There is still a vast forest area left to cover, they said. The sanctuary is an evergreen forest spread over 1,726 hectares along the coast of Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam district. In addition to the thousands of local birds, the sanctuary attracts several thousand birds from across the world from November.
According to sources, there were only a few hundred migratory birds as the season just started. Officials said most of the birds flew away as the cyclone gradually gained strength. As per the rapid response unit’s data gathered till Thursday, over 700 dead birds have been found in the area and on Nagapattinam coast. They added that migratory bird deaths accounted for around one per cent of the total figure.
An official said, “Natural selection is an interesting phenomenon. The varieties of birds accustomed to the natural calamities like this moved out of the forest when the cyclone struck. Birds that could not withstand the wind velocity or failed to fly away, succumbed. Generally, birds know very well how to escape disasters. The cause for the bird deaths here is they became traumatised due to the winds and dashed against trees while trying to fly away.”
The 15-member rapid response unit is divided into three teams. Sources said, “The team of veterinarians has mainly been carrying out three tasks. The first phase of the assessment is to walk through the forest identifying dead birds and noting their species. The second step is ascertaining reasons for the birds’ deaths. Finally, the team has to bury the carcasses and also treat injured birds.”
Forest officials said, “The veterinarians are burying carcasses of birds keeping in mind the bio-security procedure. At first, they gather the carcasses in one place and after performing post-mortem they bury them adding potassium permanganate, bleaching powder and turmeric powder so the decomposing carcasses do not cause diseases to other animals.”
The officials said they need to carry out a post-cyclone survey and also expressed hope the birds that flew away during the storm would return once the greenery is sufficiently restored. They were positive migratory birds would arrive as usual next season.
Birds dead on Karaikal coast from sanctuary?
AVIAN researchers believe birds that were found dead along the Karaikal coast could be from the Kodiyakkarai Wildlife Sanctuary. There have been no sightings of migratory birds in Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary in the six days after Cyclone Gaja made landfall in Vedaranyam. Express on November 18 reported about animals that fled the sanctuary being found in Karaikal. The birds are believed to have fled from Kodiyakkarai.
“There is a good chance that birds from the sanctuary strayed in search of shelter but died due to harsh weather and landed up near Karaikal. We have also got reports that birds were found in coastal areas of Thalaignayiru as well,” said S Balachandran, Deputy Director, Bombay Natural History Society, who works in Kodiyakkarai. He added his team had ringed about 600 birds in three months before they flew away. Species linked include the Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Lesser Sand Plover, Common Redshank and Marsh.