Viral disease? 20 more peacocks fall dead in Tharparkar

Officials insist birds dying from hot weather.

KARACHI: More than 20 peacocks have died in different parts of the drought-hit district of Tharparkar while several others are infected with a viral disease, The Express Tribune learnt Monday.

Nasrullah Samoon, a resident of Malsirio village, said that at least 18 birds have died in the last five days and many more have fallen sick. "The wildlife officials are not giving any attention towards the issue," he complained. "We are taking our own measures and giving them medicine tablets so our birds can survive."

In the adjacent Nangarparkar taluka, the situation is no different. "The birds can survive if the government starts vaccinating the birds right away," he said.

Meanwhile, the officials denied that so many birds have died. An assistant conservator of Tharparkar, Lajpat Sharma, admitted that a few cases have surfaced but, he insisted, the deaths have not been this many. "These birds are very sensitive to the weather and they are dying from the rise in mercury," he claimed.

Sharma said that his department has conducted tests recently and they found no traces of the Rani Khet disease among the peacocks in the desert. "Different diseases have been reported in recent days, such as eye infections."

Justifying the allegations made by the villagers, the officials said that the wild birds are not given vaccination in any part of the world. Those birds that are kept at homes are given vaccination, he added. "The cries of the people are baseless."

The villagers admitted the deaths have increased since the weather became hotter. They were also worried that the shortage of food may also be another reason behind the deaths. Over 20 peacocks died in different villages of Diplo taluka last week. It was also reported that several others were sick but the officials failed to pay any visits. The officials insisted that vaccinations are not feasible for the birds.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2014.