TUMAKURU: Every day, 55-year-old Mohammed Jaffer makes his way to his service station to feed some feathered friends, something that he has been doing without fail for over two decades. Now with the lockdown having pushed way beyond a month, this noble task has garnered far greater importance, for the Indian spotted eagles which await his offering, are finding it even more difficult to forage and fend for themselves.
Over the generations, the eagles have grown accustomed to being fed meat by the people working at the service station. With the lockdown leading to the nearby chicken and mutton shops downing shutters for uncertain periods of time, the birds have become more dependent on the food they are receiving at the service station, even as some birds can be seen gliding through the sky, hunting for prey, especially rodents. The Indian spotted eagle (clanga hastata) is a large raptor, or bird of prey, found across South Asia. Interestingly, Tumakuru has become significant as one of the recognised habitats for these eagles. One can spot these birds soaring in the skies, especially during the early mornings and dusk.
Meanwhile, there are about 500 of these vulnerable birds in the vicinity, and over 200 of them flock to the JJ Service Station on Dibbur Road in Tumakuru city for the grub. “Human beings can ask for food if they are hungry, how can birds and animals ask for it if they are hungry? We should understand and act accordingly. I feel a sense of happiness by feeding these birds as I have developed a strong bond with them over the years. Unless I offer them the meat, they don’t eat,” remarks Jaffer, a high school drop-out who opened the service station 25 years ago.
It all started one day, when Jaffer sighted a Brahminy kite, and offered some food to it. Gradually, the eagles also started paying him visits. “The kites are so intelligent that they recognise and follow me wherever I go,” he claims. Nesting in almost every nook and cranny, and perched on the trees in the surrounding areas, the eagle flock swoops down for the meat that Jaffer, his son Javid and other staffers provide them at the service station. The moment the raptors pick up the neatly sliced mutton pieces with their talons and take flight, it is the cawing that gets louder as the crows arrive to pick up the scraps.
Now, the birds have been conditioned to wait for mealtime just like children do before their parents feed them. These raptors indeed prey on reptiles and rodents for subsistence, but the meat that Jaffer and his mechanics offer is more like a supplement, especially during the days of this lockdown. A part of the service station has been let out to a smaller garage on rent. “Even in this lockdown, I had to seek rent from them, but they too have no business.
Anyway, I have been spending over Rs 1,000 to feed these birds and also some stray dogs that we have at the station. I love all birds and animals,” Jaffer says. In the past, there used to be over a thousand birds, which have now dwindled due to various reasons, including poisoning. Fortunately, the service station is surrounded by green arecanut plantations. Jaffer, on his part, knew little that he has been helping to improve the Indian spotted eagle population, besides contributing to the ecology, thus making Tumakuru as one of the safe habitats for the beautiful birds in South India.
Human beings can ask
for food if they are hungry, how can birds and animals ask for it if they are hungry? We should understand and act accordingly. I feel happy by feeding these birds as I have developed a strong bond with them
— Mohammed Jaffer
Over the generations, the eagles have grown accustomed to being fed meat by the people working at the service station.