Palasbari (Assam), Jan 12 (PTI) Four endangered Greater Adjutant Stork (GAS) were found dead on the premises of a hospital in Assam’s Kamrup district, forest officials said on Monday.
Three birds fell off their nests and died on Friday while another was found dead the next day.
The storks, egrets and other birds usually nest on tall trees within the campus of Moniari Tiniali State Dispensary, which has long served as a breeding site.
Recognising the ecological importance of the area, the Loharghat range office of the forest department had earlier identified the trees as a safe habitat for the endangered storks and installed signboards to ensure their protection.
The forest department has also installed CCTV cameras on the trees to monitor the birds.
Officials said the dead birds have been taken by the forest department to carry out tests to ascertain the exact cause of their deaths.
Meanwhile, environmentalists and local citizens have demanded a thorough investigation into the deaths of the endangered birds and to ensure their protection.
The GAS is a huge scavenging stork that was once widely distributed across India and Southeast Asia but is now mostly confined to Assam, with a small population in Cambodia’s northern plains region. PTI DG DG MNB
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