Ghaziabad: The death toll of peacocks in Loni’s Paychara village swelled to 13 on Tuesday after two more peacocks were found dead and the one injured also died in case of suspected overuse of pesticides in agricultural fields, the forest department officials said on Tuesday.
Officials said 10 peacocks were found dead in the village on Monday afternoon, and one injured was taken for treatment when the forest department visited the area.
“The peacock under treatment also succumbed to health conditions on Tuesday morning, and our teams also found two more dead peacocks in the village. Overall, 13 peacocks have died so far in a case that we suspect resulted from overuse of pesticides by unidentified locals. The farm, where the overuse was suspected, has been covered so that no more peacocks consume anything from the fields,” Isha Tiwari, divisional forest officer (DFO) told HT.
The village is located adjacent to the floodplains of Yamuna River.
Officials said that they have registered a preliminary case against unidentified person/s under the provision of the Wildlife (Protection) Act.
“The post-mortem reports of the dead peacocks are still awaited, and the samples have also been sent for forensic analysis, and reports are expected to take a couple of days. Samples have also been sent to the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly, for more intensive analysis. Once the reports arrive, we will be able to establish the exact cause of death. Meanwhile, we are also making locals aware of the need to prevent excess use of pesticides in fields,” the DFO said.
Officials of the department are also carrying out a detailed inquiry into the incident, and a report has been sought, the DFO added.