(IN): Cracker burst to keep jumbos away puts off avian visitors

[Guest guest]

Link: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071207/asp/guwahati/story_8639251.asp

 

Jorhat wetlands go off bird radar

- Cracker burst to keep jumbos away puts off avian visitors PULLOCK DUTTA

 

*Guwahati, Dec. 6: *Assam is having a lean season not only in terms of

winter tourists but migratory birds, too.

 

If violence is keeping tourists away this winter, migratory birds are

staying away from one of their favourite seasonal habitats in the state

because of the man-elephant conflict.

 

For the past three months, the forest department and residents of villages

in Jorhat district have been bursting crackers regularly to keep rampaging

elephant herds at bay. The cacophony may not have scared the elephants away

for good, but it has certainly kept winged avian visitors from roosting in

the wetlands they used to unfailingly visit until last year.

 

Most of the small and large wetlands along the Brahmaputra in Jorhat

district are bare indeed for this time of the year.

 

Assistant conservator of forests Gunin Saikia said only local varieties of

birds — teals, herons, egrets and moorhens — had been spotted so far in the

avian habitats known to host migratory species every year. " The Siberian

ducks, bar-headed geese, grey-legged geese and cranes that one would expect

to see around this time are conspicuous by their absence. We understand that

the sound of crackers bursting day and night can scare away birds, but the

elephant menace has left us with no choice. "

 

The real cause for alarm is that migratory birds usually do not come back to

a spot they have deserted. If Jorhat does disappear from the itinerary of

exotic avian species, it will be most disappointing for those who have been

trying to turn the clutch of wetlands into a protected bird sanctuary.

 

Lok Sabha member Bijoy Krishna Handique, chief minister Tarun Gogoi and

Governor Ajai Singh have all been mesmerised by the sight of feathered

beauties flocking one of the bird sites along the Jorhat-Mokokchung Road and

proposed that the area be turned into a tourist destination.

 

The first " bird festival " of the region was held on the banks of the

Brahmaputra near Neamati a few years ago.

 

 

--

United against elephant polo

http://www.freewebs.com/elephantpolo