Jorhat, March 5: Concerned over the drastic reduction in bird population over the past few months, the state forest department will soon carry out a survey on the avian population. The department has sought help from NGOs to carry out the census on birds. Honorary wildlife warden of Assam Santa Sharma said there had been a drastic decrease in the number of birds during the past few months.
This is in sharp contrast to the increase registered in the last couple of years in the state, she added. ?The main factor responsible for the decrease in bird population is poaching,? she said, adding that thousands of birds were killed in Upper Assam in the last couple of months. ?Forest department deputy secretary Anwaruddin Choudhury had instructed us on Thursday to take help from NGOs and forest officials in carrying out a survey of birds,? she said.
Sharma said the state government ?woke up? after the death of 20 vultures on the outskirts of Jorhat a couple of days back. The birds died after consuming the flesh of a poisoned goat. The carcass of one of the dead vultures was sent to Guwahati for forensic test. ?This is the breeding season of vultures, but most of the birds are dead. This happened at a time when the population of vultures is already on the wane,? she said.
?The vultures play a vital role in keeping the environment clean as they act as scavengers,? Sharma, who is also the president of the NGO Prakriti, said.