NGO seeks crow death probe #birdflu #h5n1

NGO seeks crow death probe - Demand to include the scavengers in wildlife category

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Sarayu Roy at a press meet in Jamshedpur on Monday. Picture by Bhola Prasad Yugantar Bharti, a Jamshedpur-based NGO that deals with environmental issues, on Monday demanded a scientific study to find out the reason behind the spate of crow deaths in the state. Speaking to the media, the NGO representatives also stressed on the need to study behavioural pattern of the flying scavengers like where they build their nests, their eating habits and issues like pollution and the depleting green cover. “The premature deaths of crows is a matter of concern. The phenomenon, which started from Jamshedpur and later spread to other parts of the state, has assumed an epidemic proportion. Apart from the animal husbandry department, the wildlife authorities should also chip in and start a probe so that they can zero in on the accurate reason behind the deaths,” said Sarayu Roy, former MLA and senior member of Yugantar Bharti. He pointed out that the findings of various laboratories such as Bareilly-based Indian Veterinary Research Institute, whose representatives had visited the steel city to collect samples, had so far failed to establish the real cause behind the crow deaths. Roy further said he would meet the chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board and senior officials of the Union forest and environment ministry in New Delhi on December 7 and demand a probe into the matter by wildlife experts. He will also request the authorities to include crows in the wildlife category. K.K. Sharma, an NGO representative associated with the Ornithology Society of India, also demanded categorisation of crows as wildlife species. “When vulture, an endangered bird, is listed under wildlife category, why not crows, which are a very important part of the nature?” he asked. He threatened to lodge a complaint with the National Green Tribunal, a judicial body constituted last year to exclusively deal with environment related issues, if their demands were not met. Retired Supreme Court judge L.S. Panta heads the tribunal as its chairperson. “We need to study their behavioural pattern and roosting habitat, along with immediate causes of their premature death, to prevent the crows from becoming extinct in Jharkhand,” said Sharma. The NGO representatives also held large-scale felling of trees in violation of environmental guidelines responsible for the increasing pollution level in the steel city.       http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111206/jsp/jharkhand/story_14844096.jsp